It’s been a long journey bringing our Fares project to fruition, involving lots of hard work from our team, as well as support from bus companies and local authorities. As such, on Friday 9^th May, we attended the CILT National Transport and Logistics Awards 2014 at Cardiff City Hall, and are extremely proud to have won the award for Excellence in Improving Customers’ Experiences for the introduction of our Fares service.

Entering its 12^th year, the awards celebrate those who have made a positive and lasting effect on services in Wales. The ceremony was organised by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Cymru Wales and saw many people turn out the event, with a buzz in the air as everyone awaited the announcement of the winners. Dr Andrew Potter, the Chair of CILT Cymru Wales, welcomed the guests and said “The awards represent excellence in transport and logistics, either by organisations or individuals, and this year has been no exception in terms of the quality of entries received.”

The Excellence in Improving Customers’ Experiences category was sponsored by New Adventure Travel Limited, and we were up against Arriva Buses Wales for the Sapphire Service 1 and also the Vale of Glamorgan for the 303/304 Bus Route. It was great to be alongside so many worthy contenders and we’re extremely pleased to have won the award, reinforcing the need for us to provide a public transport information service that keeps up with and meets customer demand.

Our Managing Director Graham Walter accepting the award.

(From left) Professor Stuart Cole, Managing Director of Traveline Cymru Graham Walter, Managing Director of New Adventure Travel Kevyn Jones.

After listening to feedback from the Welsh travelling public, it seemed that the number one piece of information travellers’ need is knowing how much their journey is going to cost them. By having our journey planner without fare information we felt would be like going around a supermarket, but with no goods priced. Offering fares data was the next step to providing our customers with a complete and informative service, that would help make planning their journeys that much more convenient.

It was wonderful to receive warm feedback from judges of the CILT awards, who claimed “Traveline Cymru won this award for tackling a complex and challenging project derived from a clear customer need. They persisted against all difficulties encountered and set themselves challenging targets, which were honestly measured and appraised. The project is a leader in its field and throws down the gauntlet to other information providers. Their submission was also an excellent example of clarity.”

On receiving the award, our Managing Director Graham Walter, said “It is very pleasing for our work on this project to be recognised. We would not have been able to offer Fares across our services without the support of all the bus companies and local authorities in Wales and we thank them for that. Also our staff who have worked hard over the last three years to make this project a reality.”

The award now has pride of place in our office, and we look forward to continuing to provide to our customers’ needs in the future.

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