Andy Foster explains how CitySwift’s products suite will help National Express West Midlands optimise its network through the Covid recovery

 
NXWM first tested CitySwift’s platform back in November 2019

 
National Express West Midlands and data specialist CitySwift have announced a three-year technology partnership to optimise bus routes.

Covid recovery presents a daunting and unprecedented challenge for public transport operators. It has driven home the need to find ways to deliver more cost-effective bus services while maintaining frequency and passenger satisfaction.

But Covid-aside, the West Midlands also has other challenges and opportunities: Andy Street, the recently re-elected metro mayor, is eager to make a difference. A new Clean Air Zone in Birmingham was launched on June 1. Coventry has the green light to become the UK’s first £50m ‘All Electric Bus City’. Work has begun on the first Sprint bus rapid transit corridor, with priority measures on the A34 and A45 in Birmingham. And finally, further enhancements are to be made ahead of Birmingham hosting the Commonwealth Games next year.

I think we’ve got to look at these new ways of doing things and different ways of responding. That’s really what’s being expected of us

“It’s a busy old time,” Andy Foster, deputy commercial director at NXWM, told Passenger Transport last week. “And it’s quite an exciting period to be working here. I think we’ve got to look at these new ways of doing things and different ways of responding. That’s really what’s being expected of us.”

One of those different ways of responding has been to pioneer the use of big data to make the operator’s vast 1,500-vehicle fleet run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. NXWM will use the CitySwift bus data engine to provide enhanced network planning and optimised bus routes across the West Midlands.

NXWM first tested CitySwift’s platform back in November 2019 on a high frequency route where a number of reliability issues had been identified. Using CitySwift’s bus data engine, which draws data from a wide variety of big data sources, their schedulers and network planners were able to analyse specific information on what drives passenger demand, while also accurately predicting the running time.

We saved bus hours and we also improved reliability. So it was all a win-win – a better service with less

The pilot project, which was followed by a further refinement in January 2020, offered impressive results. “We saved bus hours and we also improved reliability. So it was all a win-win – a better service with less,” explains Foster. There were also signs that the improved reliability led to increased passenger numbers on the service, creating an additional benefit – but then Covid struck.

The bus industry was plunged into an unprecedented crisis. Passenger numbers plummeted as lockdown restrictions were introduced. Bus networks had to be stripped back but maintained to a level that would allow key workers to depend on them.

During this period, CitySwift’s bus data engine helped NXWM to establish running times and speed up the scheduling process. Meanwhile, CitySwift’s newly-launched SwiftConnect API enabled the operator to provide bus load predictions to prospective passengers for every bus, at every stop, for any specific time and date – supporting social distancing and offering peace of mind in uncertain times.

CitySwift’s products are continuing to support NXWM as it navigates its way into the recovery period. “One of the big benefits that we get is from their SwiftMetrics module” explains Foster. “It’s possible to very quickly look at trends on individual services in terms of passenger demand and punctuality and excess wait time, and see how all that has changed.”

“There’s also the frequency tool which shows us how different categories of passenger can return post-Covid and allows us to look at the most appropriate frequency on some of the busiest services at different times of day.”

Foster believes that the newly-announced partnership with CitySwift is a sign that big data is coming of age in the bus industry.

“It’s growing in importance,” he says. “Data alone is never going to give us all the answers. You will always need intelligent analysis of what it is telling you and that’s why it’s so good to be working with CitySwift – because they’re asking us as many questions as we are asking them. So it’s a case of the data experts trying to learn from us and CitySwift’s experience and us learning about the data.”

We’ve had lots of data available for a long time and always try to use it. But it’s at the point where there is so much data that you can’t just analyse it as an individual scheduler – it will take you so long to do it that it will have changed!

“We’ve had lots of data available for a long time and always try to use it. But it’s at the point where there is so much data that you can’t just analyse it as an individual scheduler – it will take you so long to do it that it will have changed! I think the speed of the analysis is the essence and the ability to take into account lots of other factors such as weather, events, roadworks and so on and analyse that to get predicted travel times.”

 
This article appears alongside further coverage in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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