Moving thousands of passengers per day from hotels to meeting venues requires detailed planning, coordination with many stakeholders, deep city knowledge, and experienced operations professionals who know how to handle unexpected events or weather. Event Transportation Systems (ETS) has been providing transportation management solutions for large association and corporate meetings since 2002 and continues to innovate with its service offerings and technology solutions.

About the ETS shuttle tracking technology platform

ETS has been continuously working on improving communication, efficiency and service with ongoing updates to its proprietary shuttle tracking technology platform that both supports operations and provides real-time shuttle pick up information to meeting attendees. While several GPS-powered transportation solutions exist in the marketplace, no other solutions are able to solve the unique challenges of event shuttle systems.

Over the 10 years of development, ETS has completed 3 major system upgrades to arrive at its current mission-critical technology platform that powers ETS-Next-Shuttle (the attendee app) and ETS-Shuttle-Tracker (the suite of tools that assists operations). These tools are available exclusively to clients who partner with ETS for transportation planning and management for conventions, tradeshows, and other large events. Updates are regularly completed to ensure reliability and scalability, along with helpful new ETS-Next-Shuttle features including instant alerts and integrated ad space for meeting sponsors.

Portable smart devices are placed on each bus in the shuttle system, and the combination of data triangulation and conventional GPS provides the most accurate and robust bus positioning data.

How ETS technology improves the attendee experience and supports operations

The ETS-Next-Shuttle app significantly improves the attendee experience by providing exact pickup locations and real-time arrival information. This alleviates attendee anxiety about when the next bus is arriving and if they are waiting in the correct location. Additionally, during non-peak midday hours when buses operate with decreased frequency, or if the weather is not cooperating, attendees can use the app to see when the next bus arrives at their hotel allowing them to wait indoors until they know the bus is pulling up.  This differs from competitor transportation apps which typically display all buses on a map without showing the time and location of only the next bus arriving at the hotel.

On the operations side, the ETS-Shuttle-Tracker suite of tools provides an incredible leap in efficiency and safety. When the operations team can see the location of every bus in real time, it not only drives more efficient bus service, but it also serves as a unique tool in dealing with emergency situations. If a bus has mechanical issues, for example, the operations team can pinpoint the location of that bus, and immediately dispatch resources to address the incident. In addition, a messaging feature allows the operations team to instantly communicate any schedule or pick-up location changes where the shuttle system is impacted by unexpected events. These features ultimately help ETS deliver relaxed and happy attendees to their meeting destination ready to engage and learn.

Finally, armed with data that validates app use and performance, ETS is now offering ad spots within the attendee app so clients can offer the ETS-Next-Shuttle app as a revenue-generating sponsorship option.

The combination of our platform and personal touches from a team of professional transportation planners and managers has set a new standard for ETS operations while putting real-time shuttle information at the fingertips of attendees.

ETS’ experienced team ties it all together
Event Transportation Systems’ seasoned sales and operations staff partner with clients to design and deliver transportation solutions that include leading-edge technology tools to manage the transportation needs of more than 30 events annually. You can rely on ETS for shuttle systems planning and management, airport transfers, VIP sedan services, special event & tour transportation, and shuttle advertising. 

Contact us today to see how we can help support your next event, convention, meeting or conference.