Laois townlink service announces new live tracking features for their buses

Slieve Bloom Coach Tours and Townlink have announced a new online tracking feature for their buses.

Passengers will now be able to check their bus's arrival times/ scheduled departure times, live locations, timetables and seat availabilities.

Photo Source- Slieve Bloom Coach Tours and Townlink Facebook page.

Operations and Transport Manager Mark Farrell told Laois Live / The Leinster Express that the company are trying to keep up with the times. 

"Everything is online these days, and people don't want to make phone calls to find out this information. We're currently trialing it and hope to release it within the next 2-3 weeks," said Mr Farrell.

"Seeing exactly where the bus is will save people potentially waiting out in the rain, and they will know if the bus is running early or late.

We're hoping it will be a great advantage to people and help them to plan their days better. We want to give people peace of mind and confidence by seeing that the bus is coming."

Passengers will be able to see where the bus is on the road, and how much space is available on the bus. This feature has been trialed by two services in Cork and Dublin by separate operators, and is continuing trials in the UK. 

"Obviously it's a big cost to the business, but we get a lot of phone calls here looking for live bus locations, so we're trying to eliminate that," Mark continued.

"We're still always going to be here on the end of the phone for people, but on an average 8 hour work day in the office, almost 6 hours are taken up with phone calls from people looking to see where buses are. We're just trying to increase productivity here and make life easier for both ourselves, and our customers."

 Since 2019, the company have invested heavily in new vehicles. The service currently has a fleet of 46 vehicles on the road, and are purchasing new and more modern vehicles each year.

"It's a great complaint that we're so busy- we're trying to streamline things and move with the times. Ten years ago, we wouldn't have been taking payments from debit or credit cards, but the pandemic changed all that. We're updating our buses with the times," Mark said.

The new features will be launched in conjunction with the newly updated Slieve Bloom Coach Tours and Townlink website. 

"Our website at the minute is very dated, so we're trying to modernise and have everything accessible in one place for the customer. We've only announced the news this morning, and we've already received great feedback.

We're getting in new vehicles every year, it's costly but we're hoping to keep the comfort there. We have integrated WI-FI and USB charging outlets in all our buses and townlinks.

Its a massive cost, but we're taking it to move with the times. We want to provide the same high level of service to customers as we have the last 40 years."

Over the next few months, the transport service will be introducing new safety features, including an alcohol breath test in all vehicles.

"The vehicles won't start without a breath specimen- this will be coming down the line.

We have absolutely never had an issue with this in the past- but we want to increase our safety factors on the road, so both ourselves and our customers feel comfortable that we always err on the side of caution.

The breathalysers will cost around €2,500 per vehicle, but at the end of the day you can't put a price on safety."

The most recent buses acquired by the company are fitted with automatic fire suppressant features

Everything is becoming more safety conscious, and we want our customers to feel confident in our services. The safety of our drivers, passengers and other drivers on the roads are our main priorities," Mark finished.