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the app, the passenger will be able to see if that bus is a wheel chair accessible bus, have links to the operator’s Facebook/Twitter feeds, view timetables, fares, contact information and eventually aim for online ticketing. As a parent, knowing exactly where your child’s school bus is located is an invaluable tool and can be a huge time saving and stress free event. When the transportme consumer app is released, passengers and parents of Ryans Bus Service in Coffs/Woolgoolga/ Grafton, Osborns Buses in Muswellbrook, Martins Buses in Albury and all things being well, PBC Goulburn will enjoy this benefit. If your local bus company cannot offer this - ask them to jump on board with transportme! How long did the app take to develop? The app was approximately an 18 month process to develop. We sat on the idea for a little while, before making the leap to go ahead and develop it. We are still fine tuning the app all the time, and adding new features. So, it really is an ever-evolving process. Did you develop the app with a partner or by yourself? Ha ha - there is no way I have the knowledge to develop the app - out of my league. We partnered up with Appster, an Australian company who are based in
Melbourne. They were a fairly young and raw company when we teamed up with them but the passion that they showed for building the app and the vision they could see for it made the choice simple. They realised the potential for the app, not only in NSW, but both Australia wide and worldwide. Hence, they made the offer to become an equity shareholder of the company, which we agreed to and then set about to make the app. Did you fund the venture yourself? Yes - it is completely self funded. Appster’s shareholding meant we were able to save some development fees, which has definitely helped. Is the industry embracing the application? Yes, it is - we have had loads of enquiries about the system. We have already had four other operators in the state decide to make the switch to transportme - which is fantastic considering at that stage we had not advertised the product at all. Word of mouth has spread about the system, and I think operators can see the potential of tranportme, not only for themselves, but for their customers also. What are some of the successes you have had? Transportme has already won awards
from BusNSW and BIC (Bus Industry Confederation). We have also had articles published in the ABC (Australasian Bus and Coach) magazine, and Apple Australia will soon be producing a story on the system. Not to mention, of course, our local FOCUS! We have also had contact from three State Governments in Australia regarding the system - which is exciting and proves that transportme is gaining traction. Is the application patented? Yes, the app is patented both in Australia and internationally. Does the application allow operators to collate data? Data is collated from the app and is stored in the cloud safely and securely. This allows the operator to access the data in live time, and from any web enabled device, anywhere in the world. This means an operator can be sitting in New York City, and gain information on their services in Australia at the press of a button. Could the application be eventually used internationally? Most definitely. We have already had some interest from New Zealand based bus companies. Transportme is not limited to local or Australian bus companies. Because we can tweak the app to suit the situation, any form
of transport can use the app, meaning the system is truly flexible. What are you hopes for the future for transportme? To begin with, we developed the app to improve our own bus company. But we quickly realised that a lot of operators were going to see the benefit of the app. So, we aimed to have two other operators contracted to transportme by July 1, 2015. At this stage, we look like we will have a total of six operators using the system by that point - which is great. But, we don’t want to stop there. We need to build on that great start, keep improving the app, building in more features to make reporting simpler, ensure contract compliance is covered and then give the passenger the benefits that the operators are experiencing. Online ticketing and payment is the next big step for us - being able to walk into any bus in rural and regional NSW with the one smartcard and pay for your fare, or flicking your phone at the iPad would make the process of catching a bus so much easier. Initially, we wanted to solve the problems for operators and passengers in rural and regional NSW - but ultimately we would love to get transportme into other countries and help solve their own problems. Thanks Nigel. coffs coast focus.
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