New transport training, products and services from Novadata at Euro Bus Expo
Novadata displays a host of new transport training options, product and services, designed to help drivers, supervisors, managers and operators enhance their compliance and industry best practice.
The company displays its improved standalone digital tachograph software, CT-TachoTEK, with greatly enhanced IT support; a new Driver CPC course; a thoroughly revised Digital Tachographs for Managers and Supervisors course; and a host of online management tools for effective fleet management. Many of the company’s new initiatives are designed to assist Operators with membership of the DVSA Earned Recognition scheme, helping to strengthen their processes and apply best practice.
Director, Mark Lewin, says, “Several new modules in our online digital services assist Operators to comply with Earned Recognition. As well as digital tachograph analysis, we now offer our popular Walkaround Check App, online Drivers Licence Check, Fleet Maintenance Management, Vehicle Tracking & Remote Downloading solutions; and the digital Driver Handbook communication tool.
“In addition to online training options, enabling busy transport managers to undertake refresher training and Restricted O Licence holders to brush up their OLAT knowledge, and helping groups of drivers to complete periodic Driver CPC training, this year we launched a two new classroom Driver CPC course, Actions After an Accident or Emergency and Mental Health and Driving Related Stress . In addition, our revised Digital Tachographs course for Supervisors and Managers helps to explain how the 2020 changes to Drivers Hours rules should be applied, so that supervisors and managers can give accurate instructions and advice to drivers; helping organisations to maintain robust, compliant records.”
The company’s specialist transport products range has also been updated and augmented. Says MD Su Winch, “We’ve launched new additions to our highly popular compliance book ranges, camera equipment and digital download tools, as well as releasing a new version of our tried and tested TachoTEK digital tachograph analysis software. Our new CT-TachoTEK, which has been warmly received by both existing and new customers, offers greatly enhanced and rapid response to any issues, from a new team, comprising both in-house and outsourced resources for outstanding back up and support.”
The Novadata team are looking forward to meeting with both existing and new customers at the NEC, with a focus on ensuring that Operators, and particularly company directors, understand and are well equipped to fulfil their legal undertakings and protect their invaluable O Licences.
To find out more, visit Novadata TAB Ltd on Stand A78 at Euro Bus Expo.
How Flowbird’s Sesame Account Based Ticketing can help ease the cost of living
We know that equality of access is central in the ethos of public transport. But what role can transport play in mitigating today’s cost of living crisis?
Thousands of passengers benefited from the Great British Rail Sale earlier this year, and the government has just announced a £2 flat bus fare from January to March next year.
Whichever mode of transport the flat fare creates a time-limited benefit for regular travellers, but there is also a bigger question for the transport industry to consider around equality of access to best available fares generally.
Historically, regular commuters have bought period passes in advance to benefit from a lower cost per journey, whether on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
While this payment option does indeed decrease the price per journey, it is only available to those with the means to pay in advance. Passengers unable to buy period passes upfront will likely pay more for an equivalent number of regular journeys over a given timeframe.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Flowbird’s Sesame Account Based Ticketing system democratises access to best available fares through capping – and doesn’t rely on people paying upfront for a period pass.
Under a capped scheme, ‘pay as you go’ customer’s benefit equally from regular travel without needing to purchase travel passes upfront. So, for example, with Sesame from Flowbird, operators can set caps for a given number of journeys by day, week or month, and as soon as the threshold is reached, a fares cap is applied, enabling passengers to travel for the rest of the period without any additional payment.
Critically, capping is also seamless from a user point of view. Whether it’s within a closed loop scheme or an open loop using Contactless bank cards or smart phones and devices, the cap is automatically applied by CloudFare ABT, Flowbird’s modular back office.
Sesame ABT works by passengers presenting their ticket (bank card/ mobile phone/ QR code) to an on-board validator, which confirms the right to travel. Thereafter, each validator ‘tap’ is logged over a day, week or month, with fares automatically calculated in the cloud and the appropriate cap applied once the journey threshold has been reached, reducing the cost of living.
Flowbird’s CloudFare ABT back office manages the entire ‘contactless and capped’ process, with operators able to set the cap level, manage their assets, and configure fares remotely.
“This ensures that everyone making regular journeys enjoys equal access to the best available fares, nor just those with the means to pay for period passes in advance,” says Paul Rogers, Flowbird Sales & Marketing Director. “Not only does this help budgets go further at a time of stress in household finances, but it also takes away any complexity associated with navigating fares. Simply being able to ‘tap and go’ safely in the knowledge that fares are the best available – and will be capped at a certain threshold – is not only good news for consumers, it also helps operators increase ridership, collect data to improve services, and speed up passenger throughput."
To find out more about Flowbird’s Sesame Account Based Ticketing system, visit Flowbird on Stand T84 at Euro Bus Expo.
Media enquiries to:
Philip Colley, Harvest
Tel: 023 9244 9655 / 07785 306378
[email protected]
Flowbird Smart Ticketing Systems for Bus Operators and Wider Mobility
Leading technology provider Flowbird will be presenting its latest smart ticketing systems at Euro Bus Expo 2022 (NEC, November 1-3).
Alongside innovations in ticketing, payments and mobile apps, the company will be demonstrating its latest back office ‘CloudFare’, a modular cloud-based platform facilitating network-wide management and analytics of both Flowbird systems and third-party applications through a single sign on.
“The flow down of technological improvements offers many benefits to bus operators and authorities and it can be complex, but we aim to make it simple to manage and beneficial for passengers.” said Paul Rogers, Flowbird Sales & Marketing Director. “Visitors to Euro Bus Expo will see our modular bus systems and connected back-office infrastructure, designed for performance and integration to make it easier for passengers and operators.”
Among the highlights on the Flowbird stand will be:
Open payments validator – One of the most widely used range of certified open payments validators in Europe.
Driver console – ITSO and BODs ready on-board ticketing system. All-in-one or modular configuration.
CloudFare - Cloud-based, multi-modal and multi-operator back-office for control of ticketing and payments assets and system management. The architecture enables operators to take a network-wide view of performance in real-time through a single sign-on.
Account Based Ticketing (ABT) – Seamless Pay-As-You-Go travel for passengers using cEMV bank cards (or smart devices) or smart travel passes. Customer taps are recorded and consolidated, and the business rules compute the best fare calculation, enabling operators to apply system wide changes more easily and apply fares rules such as daily or weekly capping fairly to all passengers.
Monapass – one app, one account for multiple transit modes, third party subscriptions and associated services. Monapass, developed by Flowbird for the Principality of Monaco, is a MaaS app that uses account-based ticketing, secure in-app m-tickets storage, combined ticket purchase for parking, EV charging, travel and destinations (eg, museums, cinemas, tour buses), integrated journey planning with parking, public transport and active travel. Uniquely, its ‘open ticket portfolio’ functionality makes it possible to import and manage third-party ID-based passes and subscriptions, including transit and active travel accounts.
Payments – Flowbird is a certified payment service provider. Our systems support unattended, mobile and online payments. Flowbird Payments can be integrated with existing bus ticketing systems, providing a secure roadmap to omni-channel payments.
To find out more about Flowbird’s systems, visit Flowbird on Stand T84 at Euro Bus Expo.
Media enquiries to:
Philip Colley, Harvest
Tel: 023 9244 9655 / 07785 306378
[email protected]