Building Real-Time Dashboards That Connect to Delivery Teams (No Bus Left Behind!)
How Transport for London used SymTerra to track 250,000+ documents across 6 operators, 10 suppliers, and 78 garages with a team of just 5 people.
Key Metrics
In less than 12 months, we went from 1 pilot project to rolling out across all.
Outcomes
Outputs
Why London Buses Matter
London's bus network is the largest and most complex in the world.
Bus safety and reliability are non-negotiable
Launched in 2018, the Bus Safety Standard (BSS) covers safety requirements on all new buses in London.
Approximately 17% of vehicles meet the full BSS requirements for the year they entered service, and thanks to TfL's Bus Safety Programme approximately 47% of the fleet has at least some of the main features.
A well-maintained fleet means fewer delays, fewer accidents, and better passenger experience.
The Challenge
6 different operators, each managing their own fleet
5 safety technologies installed across thousands of buses. 10 suppliers, 78 garages, retrofitting happening day and night.
Only 5 people managing it all
A tiny central team responsible for overseeing the entire programme across the London bus fleet.
5,000+ buses x 5 technologies = 25,000 installations
Each requiring 10+ certifications, totalling 250,000+ documents to track.
Data scattered across spreadsheets and emails
Progress was always outdated by the time it reached decision-makers. No single source of truth.
What TfL Buses and SymTerra Did
We built our surveys and forms on SymTerra to streamline communication between on and off-site teams
Ensuring it worked as an easy and quick reporting tool for delivery teams across all garages and operators.
We then focused on automating our reporting, with a daily summary email and project management dashboards
Connecting to our project management dashboards so managers could see what happened without waiting for someone to compile a spreadsheet.
We then brought in our Assets and Activities so teams could easily log photos and videos, reports and updates against them
Every piece of evidence was automatically tied to the right vehicle, the right garage, and the right installation record.
We didn't forget our Operators and SymTerra had to work for them too
Each bus operator got their own view into the platform, so both client and contractor could see the same data, raise issues transparently, and track progress together.
Benefits
We are working with greater visibility and have fast, easy and flexible real-time reporting
- Delivery teams spend less time doing admin.
- See updates and issues in real-time.
- A connected workforce rather than one of multiple fragmented silos, streamlining communication and reducing risk.
- Evidence and history record established.
- Faster reporting to client. Both can easily see the work teams have undertaken.
- Both can raise issues faster for better transparency.
- Commercial defensibility. We did it.
We have a full audit trail for better compliance and reporting
- Accurate and transparent reporting.
- Centralised communication provides a full audit trail.
- The platform acts as the communication bridge between the night shift workers and the day shift managers.
- Commercial defensibility.
The introduction of SymTerra to support our various retrofit projects has been a game changer across our supply chain and has helped reduce time spent on administrative tasks and the use of paper based systems which in turn has helped to reduce our carbon footprint by taking opportunities to automate and digitise a wide range of processes, tasks and reporting requirements.
Utilising SymTerra has assisted with proactive problem solving and issue management which has led to cost savings across various projects through having access to up to date information on works carried out.
We have been able to develop a robust digital ecosystem across our supply chain and introduced new ways of working which has reduced the reliance on Excel Spreadsheets and labour-intensive tasks which in turn has increased visibility, accountability, productivity, assurance and collaboration across all stakeholders.
SymTerra is quickly becoming our one true source of knowledge for our bus fleet data.
Want to see how SymTerra can transform your site communication and project reporting?
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