How Stagecoach drives business growth using Optibus

Overview

By implementing Optibus’ software platform across their operation, Stagecoach, Britain’s biggest bus, coach and tram operator, discovered efficiencies for existing services and improved their bidding processes for new routes. The result is business growth, better services for passengers, and more efficient work processes for staff members.

Background

Stagecoach is one of Britain’s leading public transportation businesses and its biggest bus and coach operator. With 23,000 staff members and 8,300 buses, coaches and trams, the company transports more than 1 billion passengers annually across major cities including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Sheffield, Oxford, and Cambridge, as well as rural communities from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland to Wales and south-west England.

Challenges & Solution

Discovering efficiencies and saving costs

Discovering operational and financial efficiencies is a time-consuming and tedious process – if you don’t have the right tools available. Using the automation and optimization capabilities of Optibus’ software, Stagecoach was able to create a more cost effective and efficient schedule.

“Genuinely, it’s a game changer for Stagecoach,” said Graham Moore, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Stagecoach. “We trialed it in West Scotland and we trialed it in our Cambridge region and we could see straight away there were some really massive efficiencies that were gained.”

“We had a worst case business case and a best case business case, and it [Optibus] will blow both of those. We’re already seeing the results,” Graham continued.

Bidding for new business

In addition to optimizing existing routes, Stagecoach also used Optibus’ software platform to grow their business and serve more passengers by bidding for new routes, faster.

“One of the areas we’ve really struggled in is forecasting for new routes, for example,” said Graham. “Modelling-wise, it [Optibus] has certainly changed the game on that. We are available to bid and offer different solutions for new route tenders.”

With Optibus, users can model services in terms of vehicles, vehicle types, drivers, costs, and more, quickly create and compare multiple scenarios based on key business metrics, and choose the best (and winning) option while understanding associated obligations and operational costs. The result is the ability to prepare a winning bid in less time.

“The scheduling itself is life changing,” said Graham.

The power of Optibus’ solution quickly gained positive reactions from schedulers across Stagecoach, facilitating the digital transformation process.

“West Scotland were absolutely dying to get it live,” said Graham. “Rather than initially having to work out where we needed to push it, the guys are sort of jumping at the bit to get it. So, they’re pushing us now.”