1 bus and 1 phone. That is all you need to become a bus operator!

At redBus, our goal is not only to reduce the effort required by customers to book a journey but also to aid the bus operator in improving how they run their business. We believe our bus operator portal should help even the smallest operator to thrive as much as the larger players.

The biggest pain point of starting out as an operator is getting enough inventory sold out. The old school methods of selling seats need a wide offline distribution network across the city. This is not agile and is dependent on manpower which is a difficult task for an operator that is starting up.

While the paid B2B product from redBus has merged with BITLA (Online Bus Ticketing Ecosystem) and multi-route operators, the basic product called BOGDS (bus operator global distribution business) is still free. The BOGDS helps smaller operators with a basic inventory building platform where they can list their buses on specific routes. The platform then pushes this inventory across various partner channels to make it available for booking. Not only does the operator get detailed reports of inventory status, but they also have access to competitor reports which help them assess performance.

BOGDS vs Setting up own booking website

While setting up a booking website is not a big task, it is fairly limited in capabilities as compared to the redBus platform.

• With BOGDS you get a whole ecosystem. The redBus platform provides payment integration and the highest level of security which can be huge pain points for small businesses
• The level of analytics, that the redBus platform offers, is miles ahead of what a basic website offers. The competition data can allow small operators to decide on new routes to open up or even scheduling of their existing buses.
• Perhaps the biggest advantage is the visibility to end customers. Once the inventory is pushed, the listing is visible on goibibo, makemytrip, and several other channel partners.
• The operator gets access to a whole loop of feedback mechanism from the customer which helps them not only improve service but also fight it out with the large rivals in the long term.
• Additional features like the capability of offer deployment helps boost sales during the lean season
• The accounting for ticket sales and reconciliation is also taken care of by the platform

For a smaller operator, the platform takes care of most things so they can focus on running buses on time and providing the best experience to their customers

It’s inspiring to be a part of a company that focuses on making the road transportation ecosystem more democratic, by providing a platform to budding entrepreneurs.

Sharad Kumar
Director — Engineering at redBus

Photo by Taras Zaluzhnyi on Unsplash