UrbanThings exhibits at Smartex TCF19 and Coach & Bus UK

The UrbanThings team has been out and about this month telling everyone from Bristol to Birmingham about the merits of our m-ticketing product Ticketless™.

Smartex – Transport Card Forum

At the end of September, UrbanThings exhibited in Bristol at the Transport Card Forum organised by Smartex. We were delighted to be the lead sponsors at the two day event, which brings together local authorities, operators and suppliers. UrbanThings CEO Carl Partridge was invited to present to a packed room on the first day. He spoke about the future of m-ticketing data, and how UrbanThings is helping operators to future-proof their operations.

Carl Partridge, CEO at UrbanThings presenting at Smartex TCF19.

 

“We wanted to answer the question of whether today’s operators could lose out in the new MaaS market” said Carl. “As aggregators emerge, operators could lose that direct B2C relationship with their passengers and the valuable data that it provides. Operators need to put measures in place now, to make sure they will have access to their passenger data in the future. Ticketless has inbuilt passenger data capture and we’re moving towards a common API, so that when operators sell in to MaaS, it’s with a mandate that their passenger data comes back to them”

Coach & Bus UK

The following week, we travelled up to Birmingham for Coach & Bus UK at the NEC. The show brought together over 6000 attendees from across the industry . It was a fantastic opportunity for UrbanThings to network and demonstrate  our products across two busy days.

For the first time, Coach & Bus UK also ran an Innovation Challenge for suppliers to showcase their latest innovations. We’re happy to announce that UrbanThings was one of the winners! We delivered a short pitch to a panel of industry experts and walked away with one of the coveted awards.

Carl Partridge, CEO at UrbanThings receiving an Innovation Challenge Award from Confederation of Passenger Data CEO, Graham Vidler.

The key feature of our innovation was our Hex Tag solution, which flips around the traditional concept of a ticket validator, allowing a passenger’s smartphone to act as the ticket machine instead. As the passenger boards the bus, they scan a unique QR code that’s been placed at the vehicle entrance to validate their mobile-ticket purchase. This fresh approach saves operators money on costly on-board hardware and cash sales. Our technology provides real-time occupancy data and fleet telemetry which can then be used to optimise services and improve efficiencies.

Transport Ticketing Global – 2020

If you missed us at Transport Card Forum or Coach & Bus UK, UrbanThings will be exhibiting again at Transport Ticketing Global in January 2020. Alternatively, get in touch and we’ll be happy to demo the Ticketless™ product and speak to you about your smart ticketing solution.