There ain’t no rust on the happiness bus

Anoop Menon - Chief Technology Officer - RedBus

 

“Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage.” – Charles Duhigg

 

There is something magical about road trips, especially when you are travelling by bus. It often gives you an insight into a place, like no other. 

 

Buses are not just a mode of transport any more. With redBus, we have tried to transform it from just a means to an end, to an experience, and an integral part of the travel experience. Imagine your favourite Bollywood movies with that fun song on the bus—are you thinking of ‘Hum jo chalne lage’ from Jab We Met or ‘Do mastane chale’ from Andaz Apna Apna? This is proof that bus travel can and should be fun and adventurous too!

 

And so when we decided to bring in a new spin to an old way of travelling, we asked how can we make it a win-win for the customers as well as the bus operators? 

 

Social proof, or user-generated reviews and ratings would play a huge role in mitigating concerns of safety, cleanliness and hygiene. So we created a machine learning model to help distinguish between the good and the bad. We created tags for what’s good and what can be improved. We actively collected customer feedback through follow-up surveys.

 

Research also showed us that ‘rest stops’ were an important factor while determining a bus journey, especially at night. Customers were also keen to have information around safety, food availability and restroom hygiene. We decided to use customer feedback and GPS data to populate information around this aspect of travel as well.

 

With the customer at the heart of our mission, we used technology and user-generated information to get more customers to book on our platform and change the way bus travel is done. Today, 70% of all transactions have rest stop information and 30% of those have user-generated information. Just one small change can create a big impact. When we look back, ten, maybe twenty years from now, will this be that small change that will revolutionize bus travel in India? We hope so.