Galway technology company CitySwift has signed a major deal worth millions of euro with transport company National Express in the UK.
National Express West Midlands – the biggest bus operator outside of London – will use CitySwift’s products to share the number of available seats on a stop-by-stop basis, helping people feel safer and avoid crowds.
Through this three year investment, CitySwift is also supporting National Express Group’s mission to be the UK’s most sustainable bus and coach company.
There are currently 1,300 National Express buses in the West Midlands and 150,000 passenger journeys per day.
Brian O’Rourke, CEO and co-founder of CitySwift said: “We’re really pleased that National Express chose to work with CitySwift.
“COVID-19 has forced the public transport sector to be at its most agile, which has meant the adoption of new working practices and technologies at a pace never before seen.
“The pandemic has accelerated the need for the sector to go through a digital transformation to understand how passenger demand will change and National Express is at the forefront of this, as they use our technology to ensure vehicle supply matches the demand.”
Chris Gibbens, Commercial Director, National Express West Midlands, said that National Express plans to be net-zero by 2030 and CitySwift is playing an important role in helping them achieve that.
“By enabling networks to optimise routes, stay on schedule, and avoid crowding, CitySwift effectively increases the number of people using our buses as well as providing a safe environment for them,” said Chris Gibbens.
“The pandemic has meant that we need to restore passenger confidence and ensure we put the right number of vehicles on the right routes at the right times to get people back on board, and CitySwift enables us to do just that.”
With the Commonwealth Games taking place from the 28th July – 8th August, 2022, CitySwift’s platform will also be supporting National Express West Midlands to help it efficiently and reliably transport visitors to and around the city of Birmingham.
The platform is currently live with 8,500 buses in over 35 cities across the UK, US and Europe.
