Following an exciting few days at Euro Bus Expo 2024, we sat down with our CEO Kelly Hanna to discuss the event and the innovations we showcased that reflect our customers’ needs at their core.
Kelly, how would you sum up Ticketer’s experience at Euro Bus Expo 2024?
It was an incredible event for us! Euro Bus Expo is always a highlight in the bus and coach industry’s calendar, and this year was no exception. We had the privilege of catching up with lots of our customers and industry partners, sharing our latest innovations and discussing how we can support them in meeting the public transport challenges of today.
Looking back on it, I really don’t think we had 5 minutes of downtime on our stand. It was all go, go, go. The energy and enthusiasm were fantastic, and it completely reinforced why we do what we do – to empower customers and enhance public transport for everyone.
Ticketer revealed an exciting upcoming solution at the expo. Could you tell us more about it?
We showcased several recent developments, but a big highlight was the exclusive first look at our Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution, which was a real crowd-pleaser.
Using our Ticketer Next Generation ETM’s built-in Android tablet, microphone and speakers, our VoIP solution will enable two-way communication between operators and drivers whilst streamlining on-bus hardware. Operators will be able to send messages to all drivers, a single driver or even drivers in specific localities, and of course drivers will be able to respond when it’s safe to do so.
We’re launching this next year and the benefits will be massive for customers as currently many rely on radios which come with dedicated hardware, running costs, and limited reliability. By leveraging our VoIP solution, the need for expensive radio equipment and frequency licenses will be eliminated, on-bus hardware will be reduced and customers will get to enjoy a clearer audio with no interference.
Furthermore, unlike radios which are subject to short-range radio frequencies, VoIP operates over internet-based systems which allows communication across entire networks, regardless of distance.
What we presented at the show was an early prototype and the response towards it was brilliant. Even better, Euro Bus provided a platform for customers to share their input on how this solution could work best for them when it’s launched next year – something we take really seriously. After all, if we’re developing a new solution for our customers, it’s essential that it meets their needs. I’m therefore excited that our VoIP solution is just another example of how we continue to innovate with them at the heart of everything we do and really take them on that journey with us.
Following on from the above, can you explain more about the thinking behind the Next Generation ETM?
At Ticketer, consistency is key. When drivers switch to a new machine, we want the experience to feel familiar – just better. This was a philosophy that really shaped the development of the Ticketer Next Generation ETM. Our goal was to build on the great functionality of its predecessor but make it ‘bigger and better’ in terms of usability, card-read speed, boot-up speed and overall performance.
We’ve therefore introduced several upgrades to the Next Generation ETM, including a faster card reader, quicker printer, more powerful processor and as mentioned previously, an Android tablet for the driver console. We’ve also made it more water-resistant to reduce the risk of water ingress and improve durability in all conditions.
We’re also fully aware that funding in the industry isn’t strong right now, but we don’t want that to stop our customers from getting the best functionality possible, so it was deliberately designed with a component upgrade path in mind. This means that rather than existing Ticketer customers buying the new ticket machine in its entirety, they only need to upgrade the parts they need to enjoy the enhanced capabilities, for example the Android-tablet, the new printer etc.
There was a lot of appetite for the Next Gen ETM on our stand and the upgrade path received fantastic feedback, so we’re really happy we can offer an economical solution that’ll unlock big improvements for our customers.
Any other recent developments that were demonstrated?
We showcased our enhanced Road Restriction Alerts solution, which now offers ‘Navigational’ restrictions – e.g. no left turn, no right turn – and ‘Hazard’ restrictions, which are completely free text so our customers can use them for whatever they want. These additional restrictions are in addition to the existing height and width ones that are typically associated with low bridges.
On top of that, we took a lot of visitors through the franchising extension to the Ticketer Portal, a tool that’s most notably helping TfGM and its participating operators navigate a new franchising model, and that we hope will support many more operators and authorities who make the move to franchising to come.
Our Ticketer Insights Hub was also on show which we launched free of charge to customers earlier this year. It offers powerful data insights across Passenger Boarding, Passenger Occupancy, Tap On / Tap Off (TOTO) and Schedule Adherence (coming soon) to support smarter decision-making for our customers.
We’d recently made some enhancements to the Insights Hub based on customer feedback which we’re about to roll-out, so our stand visitors were treated to another exclusive first look with a preview of the new filters and functionality that’ll be available to them soon. It was great to receive a lot of positive feedback on the Insights Hub as well as our continual evolvement of it during the show.
With so much forward-thinking technology being demoed by all Euro Bus exhibitors, what do you think the future holds for Ticketer as well as the bus and coach industry?
It’s a real challenge as the passengers of tomorrow will have entirely different needs, habits and expectations to the passengers of today, and it’s hard to confidently predict what that’ll look like far in advance.
I do believe that the future is all about connectivity, efficiency and accessibility though. I think there’ll be a bigger emphasis and shift towards audio visual displays, AI and on-bus biometrics, which would help customers with speed of boarding and alighting, and seamless ticketing for example.
The UK bus and coach industry definitely isn’t set-up for that just yet, but when it is we’ll be ready. We’ll continue to listen to our customers and respond with the right solutions at the right time, addressing their challenges and the evolving needs of their passengers – whatever that may look like.
The feedback we received at Euro Bus Expo on our recent developments reaffirmed that we’re continuing to head in the right direction, and I’m excited about what’s next for Ticketer and the wider industry.
Lastly, any final thoughts as we wrap up this year’s Euro Bus Expo?
This year’s expo has been a great reminder of the strength of the bus and coach community. It was a privilege to celebrate our 15th anniversary with customers with some cake at our stand, exchange ideas and showcase how Ticketer is driving innovation to make public transport more efficient, accessible and attractive.
We’re leaving inspired and motivated to keep innovating and supporting our partners every step of the way.
For any questions on the above, please email info@ticketer.co.uk.