A cloud-native SaaS company founded in 2014, Optibus is an end-to-end software solution for public transportation planning, scheduling, rostering, and operations. Public agencies, private operators, and consultancies in 2,000 cities across 30 countries use our software platform to plan and manage complex public transportation networks, leveraging our robust combination of artificial intelligence, advanced optimization algorithms and distributed cloud computing to improve service quality, promote transportation equity and access, reduce emissions and costs, and modernize operations.
Optibus powers 3 billion passenger trips annually for public and private sector clients including TransDev, RATP, Arriva, Abellio UK, Stagecoach, and AVTA, the US’s largest electric bus fleet. In 2022, Optibus was valued at $1.3 billion, making us the first unicorn start-up dedicated to the public transportation industry. Optibus was selected by the World Economic Forum as a 2020 Technology Pioneer and has more than 350 employees across our offices in New York, San Francisco, Portland, London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, São Paulo, Santiago, and Tel Aviv.
Optibus’ Products:
Planning:
With Optibus Planning, you can easily plan, analyze, and optimize your entire network with unprecedented speed and accuracy, and create more equitable, accessible routes. From adding stops and timepoints on the map, to creating timetables, our Planning product offers a holistic solution for all your strategic and operational planning needs, in one convenient place — improving visibility and efficiency across your organization.
Using our Timetable Optimization feature, you can quickly optimize your timetables to increase efficiency and reduce your operational costs, while maintaining your ridership and service level needs. With our Performance Suite, you can easily predict and improve your on-time performance (OTP), generate new trip times based on your OTP goals, and analyze your real-world performance with detailed insights.
You can also view ridership data directly on the map as you plan your network with our Ridership Insights feature, or view demographic data via our Geospatial Suite — which helps you to create equitable routes and understand how different demographic groups will be impacted — along with custom GIS data to view safety hotspots, low clearances, bike paths, rail networks, schools, and more.
Scheduling:
Optibus Scheduling provides all the tools you need to easily create optimal vehicle and crew schedules — thus improving the quality of service and efficiency, and streamlining operations.
Using predefined and custom preferences and constraints for the vehicle, driver, depot, relief trips and relief vehicles, and other global preferences, the cost-based optimization engine produces a fully optimized vehicle and driver schedule in a matter of seconds/minutes.
The scheduler can then review the schedule, easily make any manual changes on the spot, change their preference parameters, and run the optimization again to produce additional scenarios. These can then be compared with previously saved scenarios by reviewing predefined KPIs such as total cost, paid time, overtime, etc.
Optibus’ Scheduling product also supports Scheduling for electric vehicles (EVs). Electric vehicles are a crucial component of the move toward zero emissions. Yet they present significant planning and scheduling challenges that require elements such as charging times, charging location, and battery levels be taken into account.
EV Solution (EV Scheduling):
Optibus offers a specialized Electric Vehicle (EV) scheduling solution, using EV-specific metrics to create the most integrated and optimal operational and charging plan.
Our EV solution offers the ability to:
- Build and optimize an EV or mixed-fleet schedule — that includes trips and charging events — to get full value out of your electrical miles and reduce PVR
- Make adjustments (add charging breaks, move trips) to fine-tune the schedule
- Define your preferences for batteries, charges, and vehicle types
- Optimize your schedules to account for battery discharge profiles and charger locations and capacity
- Get automatic alerts for insufficient battery power and preference violations
- See stats showing CO2 emission reductions, costs, and vehicle efficiency
- Operate EV routes, meet regulatory requirements, and bid for new EV business
- Gradually transition to a 100% EV fleet, by starting with a mixed fleet of diesel and electric vehicles produce additional scenarios. These can then be compared with previously saved scenarios by reviewing predefined KPIs such as total cost, paid time, overtime, etc.
Rostering:
Optibus’ Rostering product uses the driver schedule created within the Scheduling product to produce a roster for each work week (or any other working cycle). As with the Scheduling product, you simply define your preferences and constraints and our solution produces a fully optimized schedule, allowing schedulers to review any violations and compare it to multiple scenarios by predefined KPIs and overall cost.
You can also use custom rules to create rosters that better reflect your drivers’ needs and preferences, including: day-off patterns, reducing split shifts, overtime, guaranteed time, rest time between shifts, and more.
All of this saves you from excessive manual work, helps you meet your business goals, and increases driver satisfaction and happiness — thus increasing driver retention and reducing driver shortages.
Operations:
Our customers have told us that even though they can create an optimal schedule, their day-to-day operational inefficiencies can easily ruin that schedule. Our vision is to create a core engine for public transportation — a complete end-to-end platform. Operations is the final piece of the puzzle.
With Optibus Operations, our newest product, you can easily manage, analyze, and validate all your depot operations in one convenient place. From real-time driver allocation to predictive alerts, it helps you ensure that your optimized schedules stay intact, while saving significant time, effort, and headache.
Optibus Operations offers a complete set of tools for all your real-time, real-world operations, including:
- Driver and vehicle management
- Long-term planning
- Weekly and real-time daily allocation
- Flexible payroll and timekeeping
- Reporting and validations
Driver Platform:
With our simple, user-friendly Driver Platform, you can easily interact and engage with drivers via their mobile devices from anywhere, anytime, to better understand their unique needs and preferences.
You can keep drivers up to date, and provide them with real-time updates and messages on everything they need to know about their work — from shift and schedule changes, to holidays and more. Our Driver Platform will also save you significant time and hassle, with the ability to easily adjust schedules based on drivers’ needs, and regularly monitor who’s present and available for work.
This product is currently in development, but we anticipate it will be available to customers across the globe in early 2023.
Passenger Systems:
Trillium, an Optibus company, offers 4 vital solutions to enhance the passenger experience: GTFS Manager, Interactive Map, Transit Alerts, and Transit Websites.
GTFS Manager: GTFS Manager, the world’s leading GTFS editing software, makes building and maintaining your GTFS data easy. GTFS Manager’s user-friendly interface enables you to view and edit route details, schedules, and all other elements of your GTFS data.
It prepares your stops, routes, and schedules so it’s reflected in applications people already use, like Google Maps. This way, you can provide more accurate, reliable information to passengers — while gaining greater control of your data.
Interactive Map: Passengers want to understand their transportation system. Trillium’s Interactive Map automatically updates with any changes to your GTFS data, so there’s no need to manually do so — thus saving you significant time and money.
Trillium’s Interactive Maps can include many custom features for passengers, including: real-time vehicle locations and arrival predictions, landmarks, paratransit service areas, and more.
Transit Alerts: Your passengers need accurate, up-to-date information in the places they look first. With Transit Alerts by Trillium (an Optibus company), you can easily communicate with your passengers in real time, to notify them about service disruptions, detours, long wait times, and more. You can alert them in Google Maps and other applications that use the GTFS-realtime specification, and build upon your existing GTFS feed.
All of this leads to greater passenger satisfaction. Transit Alerts also integrate with your social media, website, and other platforms to spread your message across a wider audience — plus, you’ll save significant time, effort, and costs when it comes to IT and infrastructure, as well as customer support resources.
Transit Websites:
Whether you’re looking to redesign or enhance your website, our talented team of developers and designers can help you build a dynamic, accessible, and visually appealing website for your passengers that provides your passengers all the crucial, up-to-date information they need.
Your website can easily integrate with Transit Alerts, plus other tools and services (Timetables, Interactive Maps, Journey Planner, etc.) — and incorporate route maps and timetables that update automatically with your GTFS data. Our team can also help you update your logo and branding — whether it’s a small change or a full rebranding — to make it more distinguishable and appealing among passengers and the local community.
