Growth

Masons Coaches - Smarter School Transport Between Aylesbury and Milton Keynes

Overview

Masons Coaches operate 8 vehicles across 8 dedicated school transport routes, servicing 4 schools and over 600 students in the Aylesbury to Milton Keynes corridor. Working in partnership with Rise Digital Media, they have transformed their school transport operation into a fully digital, parent-friendly experience — increasing efficiency, compliance, and passenger confidence.

Services provided

Vehicle tracking

Payments

Passenger Information

Ticketing

Modernising School Transport Operations

The Challenge

Like many regional school transport providers, Masons faced growing administrative complexity as demand increased. They needed a modern system that would:
- Streamline ticketing and payment management
- Offer accurate real-time tracking for parents
- Digitise vehicle compliance and reporting
- Improve communication across all stakeholders

They also required a platform flexible enough to support term-time variations, multiple schools and routes, and direct integration with national data systems like BODS.

The Solution

Rise provided Masons with a comprehensive school transport management solution, combining powerful backend systems with user-friendly digital tools.

Driver App

Used daily to:
- Record scheduled trips and track live vehicle location
- Log schedule adherence and real-time trip data
- Scan and validate student passes
- Notify parents when students have boarded or alighted

Parent App & Website Portal

Designed for convenience and transparency:
- Allows parents to select a school, route, and boarding stop
- Offers flexible pricing based on route and school variations
- Supports payment in full or via recurring Direct Debit across the academic year
- Displays real-time vehicle tracking and boarding notifications

Online Ticketing, Pre-Sales & Pass Management

- Masons use Rise’s Ticket Groups feature to pre-sell seats to existing customers before general sales open. This rewards loyalty and ensures returning families can secure a seat for the next academic year.
- After the pre-sale phase, remaining seats are made available to new customers.
- This strategic approach gives Masons early visibility into demand levels at each stop, enabling smarter fleet planning — including the opportunity to add extra vehicles when routes near capacity.
- Automated alerts notify Masons when new passes need printing or dispatching.

Automated Reporting & Compliance Tools

- Failed Direct Debits are automatically flagged, allowing Masons to take action or adjust payment plans
- Full visibility on ridership, boarding events, and vehicle tracking
- Integration with BODS ensures compliance with national transport regulations

Routing & Timetabling System

Masons use Rise’s built-in routing engine to:
- Generate route data from boarding locations
- Automatically feed timetables to the Driver App
- Publish updated service info to meet Department for Transport BODS compliance

Outcome

By embracing a complete digital workflow, Masons Coaches have streamlined their school transport service end-to-end. With real-time visibility, reduced admin, pre-sales capabilities, and a better experience for parents, the operator is now positioned to scale services while maintaining high levels of trust and compliance.