Blackpool Transport sign new 3-year contract with Passenger

Bus and tram operator Blackpool Transport has renewed its contract with Passenger, the UK’s leading digital transport services provider.

With over 100 years of heritage, Blackpool Transport’s fleet of 135 buses and 25 trams carry 5.2 million passengers every year. Blackpool Transport first began working with Passenger in 2017. Since then, hundreds of thousands of users have used the Passenger Cloud powered BPL Transport app and website to travel across the town and its surrounding areas every week.

Over the last 5 years, Blackpool Transport has delivered a revitalised, modern and accessible network. Since working with Passenger, they have seen a year-on-year increase in child ticket sales after introducing ticket gifting, and greater customer confidence after implementing live bus tracking. Their digital services offering now includes contact-free verifications for students and other discount ticket holders, and a Travel Portal providing discounted travel schemes for local businesses.

Blackpool Transport and Passenger continue to innovate. In February 2021, dynamic QR codes significantly reduced instances of fraudulent tickets being used to travel and since March, Tap&Go contactless card payments have allowed users to simply tap on and off and be charged the lowest available fare for their journey.

Sales & Marketing Manager at Blackpool Transport, Shane Grindey said “Having worked with Passenger since 2017 I have no doubt that their app and website products have played a key part in allowing us to achieve a 92% satisfaction rating amongst our customers in recent years. Our data-driven and customer-focused approach has been complemented by the innovations provided by Passenger, which has played an important part in allowing us to better understand our customers and provide the products which they want.

Importantly, their robust digital product offering aligns with Blackpool Transport’s commitment to accessibility and inclusivity. It’s been a fantastic partnership so far and we look forward to achieving even more for our customers over the next three years.”

Passenger and Blackpool Transport have developed a close working relationship. Shane Grindey was invited to speak at a Passenger Innovation Day in 2019, and Finance Director James Carney guested on an episode of the Making Passenger podcast in 2020, to share their story of challenges and changes as they worked to make public transport the first choice for travel for Blackpool residents and seasonal visitors alike.

Passenger CEO Tom Quay said “We greatly enjoy working with the Blackpool Transport team. They truly understand the needs of their customers because of the extent they analyse their data and work to understand the impact of changes. They always make data-driven decisions and the results speak for themselves. They make smart moves and get things right – making it the easy choice for their residents and visitors to use shared public transport as much as possible”.