From London’s iconic red double-decker buses to the sleek luxury coaches that crisscross the Continent, road-based passenger transit is the backbone of public transport in Europe. And for the organisations that provide essential passenger transit services, one thing is uppermost in their minds — safety — not just for passengers, but for drivers too. 

“At Be My Bus by Darbier, we love our job and we are proud of the trust our customers place in us,” said Paulo Da Cunha, Head of Studies and Methods at France-based Be My Bus by Darbier. “Whether it is a public transport service or occasional passenger transport, each member of our team is committed to not only providing a unique coach travel experience, but also to guaranteeing the safety of our passengers,” he said.

It’s why more and more fleet-based passenger transit firms are turning to Samsara’s Connected Operations Platform not only to improve safety but to transform other parts of their business as well. 

Good safety is good business

Dual-facing cameras — augmented by artificial intelligence (AI) — not only record incidents and accidents, but they can also detect unsafe driving behaviours like speeding, mobile phone usage, and harsh braking. If something happens, drivers are alerted immediately so they can correct their behaviour there and then. But if they persist, then footage is automatically uploaded to a central inbox for review and coaching feedback.

It can also record violent attacks on drivers from passengers in the vehicle and other anti-social behaviour. In the UK, for example, 82 per cent of bus drivers were subject to abuse in 2023, according to trade union Unite, while 79 per cent reported an increase in aggressive behaviour. 

Drivers who operate early morning — or very late shifts — are particularly vulnerable to assaults, many of which either go unreported or are not pursued due to lack of evidence.

“From making our drivers safer on the roads to giving our customers the first-class experience they deserve, Samsara has helped us step up our operations across the board," said Romi Singh, Director at UK-based luxury private-hire bus and coach business OMC Global.

Being able to access incident footage in real time has helped the company efficiently respond to claims and exonerate its drivers when not at fault. 

It’s a similar story at UK coach operator Abbey Travel. “We recently had an incident where a dog ran out into the road, causing the driver to hit the brakes quickly and a passenger fell over,” said Steve Woodall, Transportation Manager. 

“Using Samsara, we were able to see why the incident took place and that the passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, empowering us to protect the driver,” he said. 

Lower operational costs and a better customer experience

This focus on safety not only saves lives, it also delivers other tangible benefits as well including exonerating drivers against fraudulent claims. In the case of Abbey Travel, the roll-out of smart cameras helped the company reduce its insurance premium by more than £60,000. While investing in a similar Samsara solution, OMC Global was able to reduce its insurance premiums by 15 per cent. And it’s helped them challenge false claims. 

"We win more cases when it's not our fault now," said Singh. "Having video proof to hand has helped us bring down insurance premiums and demonstrate our commitment to safety to our insurance provider." 

Insurance premiums aren’t the only cost benefits that OMC Global has achieved with Samsara. By addressing behaviours like harsh acceleration and excess idling through driver coaching, they’ve also achieved a 27 per cent reduction in fuel usage in the first three months of implementation.

Samsara’s connected platform provides total oversight 

These are just some of the many benefits that passenger transit fleets have seen by moving to Samsara’s platform as part of their digital transformation strategy. 

Instead of buying unconnected siloed solutions, investing in a platform allows fleets to tap into technology that spans their entire operation providing everything from real-time GPS tracking to improving fuel efficiency. Just ask Guillaume Bruneau, director at Ruban Bleu Group, the French company with a fleet of 55 coaches and minibuses. 

“Eco-driving is a very important aspect for [us] both in terms of safety for our drivers and quality of service for our customers and, more globally, of our brand image and reputation,” said Bruneau. 

“For several years now, Ruban Bleu has been implementing a proactive policy to reduce its carbon emissions and has been actively investing in a fleet of clean vehicles. Samsara’s solutions help us to measure the efficiency of this transition, notably by providing accurate and real consumption data, whatever the type of alternative fuel. This is something we couldn’t do with our previous tools,” he said.

Real-time data is driving fleets

Not only does access to real-time data help fleets deliver their net zero policies, it’s also able to help save fuel. But that’s not all. 

“Having such accurate and reliable data is not only essential for improving our operational performance — such as calibration and line improvement — but also for responding effectively to certain tenders,” said Bruneau.

“For certain public contracts in particular, on which the Ruban Bleu Group regularly positions

itself, 60 per cent of the score is technical. It is therefore essential to show that we have high-performance tools for tracking the kilometres travelled and fuel consumption,” he said.

In Germany, Scharf Busreisen — a coach company that operates buses for the Munich Transport Company (MVG) — knowing the precise location of every single vehicle at any time of the day or night is essential. 

“Samsara's comprehensive real-time location and tracking capability enables companies to track their vehicle fleets anytime, anywhere, resulting in more efficient fleet management and maximum transparency,’ said Carsten Jandt, Head of Driving Services and Data Protection Officer at Scharf Busreisen.

And he’s not alone. It’s a business benefit echoed by Romi Singh at OMC Global.  “We had no way of precisely monitoring our drivers and vehicles when they were out on the road," said Singh. "The lack of real-time tracking meant we couldn’t provide reliable ETAs or delay updates to our customers.”

With real-time vehicle tracking and automated arrival times, the company can now also provide accurate updates to customers — eliminating the need for drivers to pull over and report delays manually. 

"Instead of just being given the driver's name and number, our customers now know where their vehicle is at any given moment," said Singh. "Being able to communicate with precision has played a vital role in demonstrating to customers that we offer a premium service.”

Real-time tracking improves customer service

Regardless of whether operators start out looking for safety, sustainability or efficiency gains,  having a suite of solutions hosted on a single platform means that managers have complete operational oversight. And that’s one of the advantages of investing in a connected platform rather than disparate solutions. 

“With the Connected Operations Cloud, everything is so easy and intuitive, you wonder how you used to do it,” said Jandt.

At the heart of the platform is a constant stream of data that provides the real-time updates and insights needed for a modern operation. 

“The automation of data management is particularly powerful with the Samsara cloud platform, at no additional cost,” said Da Cunha at Be My Bus by Darbier. “The time savings have exceeded our expectations: while our goal was to reduce our social data processing time by 25 per cent, we have reduced it by 50 per cent.

“These precious hours saved have been reinvested to optimise the company’s operations and further improve our productivity,” he said. 

And that’s important. Because road-based passenger transit is a vital part of public transportation in Europe. Operators are constantly striving to make their operations safer, more sustainable and more efficient. Thanks to real-time data tracking and AI-driven insights, these operators are increasingly turning to technology to make that happen. And the biggest winners are the millions of passengers who travel every day.