BODS Compliance

Helping Centrebus meet the DfT's BODS Requirements

Meet Centrebus

Operating for over 20 years, Centrebus has established itself as a key local bus service provider across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland, operating a fleet of approximately 350 buses.

When the DfT’s BODS requirements came into effect in 2020, Ticketer partnered with long-standing customer Centrebus to ensure seamless compliance. Leveraging the existing data within their Ticketer system, Ticketer worked closely with Centrebus to help them meet their obligations for fares, timetables and location data, and deliver fully compliant solutions with minimal disruption.

“Ticketer has helped immensely with BODS. The Ticketer data is robust, we can analyse and report on it, we can break it down into time bands for Schedule Adherence. We know what’s going over is compliant and ticks the box.”
Chris Almond, Group Commercial Officer, Centrebus

How Ticketer Helped

BODS Location Information: For Centrebus, the Ticketer Portal was already collecting and processing GPS data from their on-board Ticketer ETMs, meaning the required information simply needed to be configured and submitted in the correct format.

Ticketer supported Centrebus by preparing and sharing the required data via a SIRI Vehicle Monitoring (VM) feed to the DfT. Most operators already deliver a SIRI feed from their Ticketer ETMs to local authorities, websites or mobile apps, so this was simply a case of setting up another that was directed towards the DfT with the relevant information.

BODS Fares Information: Ticketer’s BODS solution simplified the process of sharing Fares information for Centrebus by leveraging their existing data within the Ticketer Portal. With their fares data already configured for use within the Ticketer system, it was seamlessly extracted, formatted, and shared in the required NetEx standard, ensuring compliance with the DfT’s standards without adding operational complexity.

BODS Timetables: Centrebus already had information on their timetables within the Ticketer Portal, it simply needed extracting and formatted within the required TransXChange (txc) file structure to ensure compliance with the DfT’s specifications. All Centrebus was then required to do was copy their provided web addresses within the Ticketer Portal and paste it into the BODS portal.

The Outcome

Ticketer’s BODS solution is designed with simplicity in mind, making setup quick and hassle-free for customers. Thanks to the straightforward setup process and the expertise of its in-house BODS specialists and UK-based Customer Support team, Centrebus was able to ensure quick compliance with the DfT and removed the need to establish a separate team or hire external consultants to navigate the complexities of compliance. Ticketer provided hands-on support throughout initial setup, ensuring Centrebus was operational quickly and efficiently.

By seamlessly leveraging existing data already collected within the Ticketer Portal, Centrebus has subsequently saved significant administrative time. The need to manually export data, verify compliance, and reformat it for submission to the DfT was entirely eliminated. With Ticketer’s system doing the heavy lifting for them and handing the complexities of regulatory data submission, Centrebus can focus on delivering reliable and efficient services to passengers while remaining fully compliant with their BODS requirements.

Highlights

Since introducing Ticketer’s BODS solution, Centrebus have enjoyed…

Ease of Implementation

Designed with a straightforward set-up process in mind and supported by the Ticketer team, Centrebus were able to quickly launch their BODS solution with minimal operational complexity.

Confident Compliance

With the required data collated within the Ticketer Portal, information is shared in the necessary format and via the required feeds correctly and efficiently.

Time Savings

Centrebus needn’t manually pull the necessary data and ensure its accuracy – the Ticketer solution does the hard work for them with automated and compliant feeds ensuring seamless data submission and manual time savings.