For their dedicated “Show Issue”, we recently caught up with Coach & Bus Week to discuss what we would have been exhibiting on our stand, had Euro Bus Expo been taking place this year.
Read the full feature below or visit Coach & Bus Week’s website to read the full issue.
Had Euro Bus Expo taken place this month, one supplier sure to draw a crowd, as ever, would be Ticketer. While their creative stand designs – think the “Down the Rabbit Hole” theme – always appeal, the real draw lies in the consistent innovation showcased each year.
2025 has been no exception. Ticketer has advanced its product roadmap, delivering new features, richer insights, and a bold new look. Whether empowering customers with improved communication, unlocking deeper analytics, or unveiling a new visual identity, these developments reaffirm Ticketer’s commitment to customers and the wider industry.
Driver Connect: Transforming your Console into a Direct Line to your Drivers
Seamless front-line delivery has always been at the heart of Ticketer’s innovation, and its new Driver Connect feature is testament to that. Designed to strengthen two-way communication between drivers and control rooms, the feature comprises three powerful components — each developed to maximise connectivity and streamline operations. Customers can adopt all three or select the combination that best suits their needs.
The first, and arguably most transformative, is the ‘Voice Call’ component. Utilising the TK300’s built-in speakers and microphone, and operating over 2G+, it surpasses the range limitations of traditional radio systems to deliver clear, interference-free calls across greater distances. Both drivers and control room teams can initiate calls, with incoming calls to the latter alerted within the Ticketer Portal.
For additional safety, two levels of calls are available — emergency and standard — and the feature includes an on-screen emergency button. It can also integrate with a physical in-cab button, whether pre-existing or installed during rollout.
The second component, ‘Voice Messaging’, allows control rooms to record and send messages directly from the Ticketer Portal to specific drivers, services, vehicles, or depots — ensuring targeted, timely communication. Messages can include active and expiry dates, with autoplay and playback options available on the driver console. Drivers can also respond via text, keeping exchanges efficient and traceable.
The final ‘Text Messaging’ component adds further flexibility. Control rooms can send or schedule written messages with the same targeting precision and drivers can reply with free-text or pre-defined (“canned”) responses. Messages may be colour-coded for urgency, with visual and audio alerts for priority communications.
At its core, Driver Connect reflects Ticketer’s commitment to empowering the people who keep transport moving. By improving the ease and accuracy of communication, it ensures drivers and control teams stay seamlessly connected — wherever the journey takes them.
Transforming Data into Actionable Insights
The Ticketer Insights Hub has fast become one of the company’s most powerful tools for elevating fleet performance. Two recently launched reports give operators even greater ability to identify trends, address issues, and deliver improved services with confidence and clarity.
For operators using Ticketer Schedule Adherence, the new ‘Punctuality Report’ provides a clear visualisation of service reliability. It highlights recurring issues and pinpoints root causes, offering instant visibility into vehicle and driver performance against schedule.
Meanwhile, Ticketer’s new ‘Failed Transactions Report’ clearly details incomplete or unsuccessful ticketing events. It allows filtering by year, transaction type, local authority and stop-level, helping identify connectivity issues, card errors, or hardware faults. Every transaction is traceable, ensuring complete accountability.
Together, these tools demonstrate Ticketer’s dedication to turning data into meaningful insight — giving operators the confidence to make informed decisions that enhance passenger experiences.
A Fresh Face for a Future-Focused Company
If Ticketer’s latest features mark continual technological advancement, the company’s recent rebrand represents an evolution in how it presents itself. Because whilst their name may continue to be Ticketer, they’ve become so much more than a ticket machine supplier since launching in 2009.
Ticketer has grown, evolved their product portfolio and helped shape the future of public transport, with their new branding better reflecting that journey. And of course, no rebrand would be complete without a new Bill the Ticketer Duck – who, had Euro Bus Expo gone ahead this year, would have made his debut!
Continued & Purposeful Innovation
A prevalent theme of the above is Ticketer’s continued commitment to our industry. Each new feature — from Driver Connect to the Punctuality Report — has been designed with customers in mind, ensuring solutions meet real-world needs rather than theoretical ones.
Even without a stand at this year’s show, Ticketer’s innovations have made clear that it remains one of the key driving forces behind digital transformation in the UK bus industry.
For further information on Ticketer’s recent developments, email info@ticketer.co.uk.
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