One in 10 buses in Greater Sydney is a ghost bus. These are the buses that run late, leaving you in the dark about when they will arrive. Rain, hail or shine, you’re left with no choice but to wait.
In fact, the NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen recently explained it perfectly;
“When you’re standing at a bus stop, sometimes it feels like dog years. But if you know the bus is coming and that that app information is reliable, it’ll mean that more people feel confident to catch public transport.”
On the other hand, train riders in Sydney can precisely track the arrival of their trains through the transport app.
This next-level customer experience technology is what train users are enjoying. They are a few years ahead of buses, but there is no reason why bus providers can’t provide the same level of service to Sydney bus users.
A real-time solution possible for buses
Here are just a few of the things Toustone’s SIRI platform, designed for the transport industry, does:
- Provide real-time communication to transport users (or as the train industry calls it: ‘now now’ time, if your mode of transport is 15 literal seconds away that is exactly what will be displayed on your app).
- Keep transport users informed of the status of other parts of their journey, like; Lifts/elevator status (working or not) and nearby car park spaces (for those to park their car at a junction)
- Addresses the behind the scenes issues that impact bus reliability, like predictive maintenance.
After many years of ‘minimal investment’ the NSW state government has allocated $15.8 million to upgrade the technology on Sydney buses.
So, Sydney, get ready, because the era of ghost buses could soon be a thing of the past. We know it’s possible because it’s already been accomplished with trains.
As mentioned above, with the correct implementation, even buses delayed due to maintenance issues can be reduced thanks to predictive maintenance insights.
Learn more about our advanced and predictive analytics transport solution.
We absolutely love what data, sensors, and a thirst for leveraging technology for good is doing to the transport landscape in Australia and beyond.
Book a discovery call to find out more.
