Digital school bus ticketing platform ShuttleID has launched a package that is specifically for use by local authorities (LAs). It includes various features aimed at those users and comes with a no-obligation 90-day free trial period.
The move allows ShuttleID to support LAs across whole home-to-school service networks. A decision to expand into that market follows what the supplier calls “an unprecedented level of interest” from LAs over the past year.
A number are already signed up with ShuttleID and others are trialling the system. It provides e-ticketing, payments, service alerts, reports, live vehicle tracking, and boarding notifications.
QR codes generated can be displayed on a smartphone or a ‘brick’ phone or printed. Drivers validate the pass via an app and data is available to the LA in real time.
Among the public bodies to have signed up is the States of Guernsey. The system was put in place there primarily to handle a recent surge in school bus demand. That has created difficulties with pupils being unable to board due to insufficient capacity.
The problem is mitigated by ShuttleID providing the States of Guernsey with a simple method of capacity control via the digital passes. Reporting is helping to identify ‘dormant’ passes, allowing officers to better allocate capacity to users on a waiting list.
Says Senior Passenger Transport Officer Jonathan Guilbert: “ShuttleID provides an effective way of managing seating capacity on services. It is simple to use, both from a driver as well as a back-office point of view.
“We find the reporting features within ShuttleID very useful. Technical support of the system is excellent with queries responded to quickly.”
Mr Guilbert adds that parents find the real-time tracking function beneficial, while when travelling to school, children need only leave home when they know the vehicle is near. “This is particularly useful in bad weather,” he continues. “Parents also report that they like boarding notifications so they can be informed when their child has safely boarded the bus.”
Northumberland County Council is a further LA to have commenced using ShuttleID after a successful trial. It is in the process of scaling up the system across its home-to-school network. Passenger Transport Officer Thomas Bunting says that the platform is proving to be “a real gamechanger.”
He adds: “The system has enabled us to transition from a point where we had little or no data on travel permit checks or usage to where we now have access to extensive data streams that we can use to improve delivery of the service and achieve cost savings.”
ShuttleID has also had a positive influence on student behaviour, he says. “While we have to date only had a limited rollout of the ShuttleID product, it is clear that it is already offering us a fantastic solution in terms of the management and tracking of school transport.
“As a result, we are intent on extending its use across the entire school transport network, not just on our contracted PSVs but taxi and private hire vehicles as well.”