Transdev: Innovations and changes in public transport

Transdev is driving innovations in public transportation in the Netherlands by introducing flexible, data-driven solutions. Through strategic collaboration with NetRom, Transdev is enhancing the efficiency, scalability, and customer experience of its services.Public transportation is no longer comparable to what it was twenty years ago. Not only has market competition been introduced, but also various new, flexible forms of transportation have emerged – think of shared mobility and on-demand services like Uber. The future of public transportation is wide open. In that future, we might not find ourselves waiting at a windy bus stop for a bus anymore; the transportation provider could know in advance when you would like to depart from home.

Transdev operates in the Netherlands with public transportation and contract transportation. One operates according to a schedule, while the other is based on customized agreements. Originally, these two variants were two well-separated ‘silos,’ says Jochem Beek. Beek is the head of product development at Transdev and a driving force behind innovation.

“Bringing together these two worlds is central to Transdev innovations and changes in public transportation. Public transportation is carried out based on tenders and concessions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many bus lines have become less profitable. This makes it more interesting to work with forms of public transportation other than planned bus services during off-peak hours. Bringing together both types of transportation also aligns with the needs of our passengers: they can depart at any moment instead of waiting.”

For such a service, you need a platform where various data streams converge and an app through which passengers can pay and indicate their transportation needs. Transdev sought a partner to help in these areas and found NetRom.

But there was more on Transdev’s wishlist. Beek explains: “Our organization dealt with a lot of legacy issues. Over the past 25 years, especially Connexxion has developed many in-house applications in languages that are no longer used, such as Pascal and Delphi. We also wanted to consolidate the number of development partners – in other words, centralize all development work.”

Initially, NetRom assembled a team capable of providing support in both old and new technology. “We started relatively modestly with a handful of developers. Now, there is no longer a modest team; we are continuously engaged in dynamically distributing capacity across various development programs. We mainly collaborate with NetRom on apps, back-end systems, and ticketing systems,” says Beek.

The collaboration between Transdev and NetRom has proven essential for accelerating these innovations in public transportation. Choosing NetRom has yielded the intended benefits. “Think of establishing a uniform approach. Everything being developed now happens in .Net. NetRom has played a significant role in implementing development standards.”

But above all, the factor ‘time’ (or capacity) has worked in favor of Transdev with the choice of NetRom, Beek explains. “Transdev is a private organization; we are not obligated to tender. Innovation goals are often part of the tenders we apply for. For instance, developing completely new products or providing solutions for data or ticketing platforms. Being able to switch quickly is an advantage in tenders. To move quickly, you need to bring together knowledge and technology rapidly. If we win a tender, NetRom can scale up with us. In short, NetRom is essential for our innovation capacity and pace.” Because Transdev also has developers in-house, Beek does not see any risks in terms of vendor lock-in.

Especially being able to scale up and down quickly is essential for us. However, that goes beyond just your partner; you also need to be able to adapt to differences in pace. It’s not a matter of giving the order to develop an app and having it handed over to you after two months. It’s more of a social contract: they get moving, and you have to move too. That’s why we, as the client, need to keep an eye on whether we are flexible enough. For example, if we want to scale up, we need to start recruiting new product owners early on.”

Beek meets with NetRom monthly. NetRom is also involved in the business opportunities that Transdev sees – such as announced tenders. “During such meetings, everything is discussed: from the burn rate (what Transdev spends on hours), the business priorities, to where and when acceleration is needed. During off-peak periods, we pay a bit more attention to ‘household chores’ and technical debt,” says Beek. “We focus on time, not so much on money. The developers don’t have to deal with costs right away, but we do expect them to be aware of the impact of projects. Concrete questions in that area often boil down to ‘how quickly can we develop an MVP for this?’

Besides development capacity, Transdev also acquires QA capacity. “The QA specialists are critical and have the freedom to give feedback. NetRom employees also stay in their positions relatively long. This ensures continuity and knowledge retention; moreover, these are highly educated staff. This gives us the freedom to focus primarily on creative aspects, while NetRom takes care of the technical realization. We involve the teams in our roadmap so they can understand how the products they develop are used.”

Where does Transdev want to be in five years, and what role does NetRom play in that vision? Beek explains that in the transport sector, many travel patterns are repetitive, while the transportation sector itself is reactive in many ways: both the passenger and the transportation provider wait and see. “We have a clear roadmap in terms of product development. Our biggest gain lies in operating even more data-driven. We want to be able to predict demand and adjust our services based on that demand rapidly. We will increasingly deploy our existing products based on customer information and real-time operational data from our fleet, bridging the gap between public transportation and demand-driven forms of transportation, such as taxi services. Looking ahead, Transdev innovations and changes in public transportation will continue to redefine mobility solutions. NetRom will play a significant role in this area. The market is watching us on how we develop our products.”

Increasingly, the products Transdev develops are taken up and further developed with sector peers. “So, we are increasingly commercializing our products.” It’s therefore logical that Transdev agreed with NetRom two years ago to provide IT support for the products developed in collaboration with Transdev. “This establishes a direct line between customers and the development team, enabling quick problem-solving and improvements. Transdev found this quite challenging initially, but it has developed very well. They work in our ticketing systems, so if there’s a P1 or P2 issue, we know immediately and can respond quickly. This expansion aligns well with the fact that we are developing more and more mission-critical applications and the business’s desire for well-secured continuity.”

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