Guest Post: Digitalisation - Revving up sustainable transport

Julian Hirst, regional director, EMEA of Busbud, elaborates on operational details through to its benefits

Less than three decades ago, transport was mostly analogue. Therefore, travellers would show up at a station, buy a ticket at a booth and wait for their journey to begin. Sometimes, this could be costly, inefficient and lead to customer dissatisfaction.

For many travellers in Western Europe, slick, connected ground travel is the norm with customers able to book on their phones, compare routes and access deals. As a result, people can now travel efficiently, manage routes and track any changes or delays. However, in many regions, digital transformation efforts are not as mature.These projects must be rolled out globally in future to make ground travel more sustainable and efficient.

Driving digital transformation

A user-friendly approach drives digital transformation in ground transport. Global platforms connect consumers with operators, routes and tickets. Even when consumers are travelling abroad, platforms offer a wide variety of languages and currencies, breaking barriers to travel. To facilitate this technology, information is hosted in cloud servers, supported by data centres worldwide. Some leading providers have caches in over 100 countries, keeping data close to customers.

5G and connectivity upgrades are also helping digital transformation efforts. As buses and trains are digitised, global connectivity solutions help operators and customers track their journeys, delays and adjustments. This keeps travel running smoothly.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now being deployed to make the most of the data stored by platforms and operators. As AI can analyse patterns, this better positions operators to respond to peaks and lulls in demand, plan routes more efficiently and manage the flow of people.

AI also enables quicker responses to customers in need, answering questions using automation and relevant information given by the traveller. Where human assistance is required, AI can facilitate escalation. Booking platforms can use AI for data processing, and filtering customer searches to optimise the results people are shown – thus improving their overall experience.

Internally, this technology is also helpful for monitoring IT systems and proactively flagging any bugs or glitches which may lead to unplanned downtime.

Critically, route optimisation leverages data and AI to predict unconstrained demand for operators on their routes. Platforms can even allow operators to automate their decision-making

using AI. In recent years, operators have gone all in with this approach, using technology to dramatically improve revenues.

How do consumers benefit?

Digital tools have also made ground transportation more affordable as companies take a data-led approach to allocating resources. This means they can easily allocate resources more efficiently and lower costs for travellers.

Customers can also adapt routes to their preferences to get the most from a trip. This is useful for connecting routes and longer journeys. In some cases, people can benefit from lower-cost journeys by booking through an online platform as they can review multiple operators to get the best deal.

When platforms incorporate real-time updates using email or chatbots, customers are kept in the loop, reducing frustration thanks to timely updates about their commute. When unexpected circumstances arise, these travellers can adapt plans, request refunds or change tickets without leaving their homes or workplaces.

Going green

As the digitalisation of ground travel has made transport more efficient, more people are choosing trains and buses over flying because they are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of travel. Greenhouse gases emitted by domestic flights in the UK are significantly higher than those of buses and trains, so customers are responding to consciously reduce their emissions.

For operators, data can help further drive down emissions. This information can be used to deploy trains and buses in line with demand, thereby reducing the number of empty trips. The same data can also be used for carbon optimisation across routes.

Enabling resilient, adaptive transport systems

Digital systems have become a powerful force for sustainability within the travel industry. From optimising routes to reducing congestion and fuel consumption, these tools have put operators behind the wheel on the road to lowering their environmental footprint.

As AI and smart infrastructure develops further, digital transformation promises a more sustainable, resilient and adaptive transport system – better equipped to respond to the challenges posed by climate change.