What we did

Management of bus notices and labels

Client: Transport for London (Surface Transport)

• In 2007, TfL appointed Stewart Signs to roll out and maintain their new brand and information notices aboard 9000 buses serving London.
• The diverse fleet, managed by multiple operators, is required to display mandatory safety notices at all times, facing penalties for noncompliance.
• In 2017, TfL nominated Stewart Signs for both Best SME and Best Innovation at their annual supplier awards.

The Challenge

• TfL wanted to improve the passenger journey by providing consistent brand and network information.
• They needed to be kept informed of all posting activity to be certain of meeting operational goals and regulatory compliance.
• With no record of what was already on the buses, some suppliers had been applying their own versions of labels and notices.
• Many labels were in the wrong format, colour or position, creating a confusing and inconsistent environment for passengers.

The Solution

• Stewart Signs began by producing a complete database of all buses, noting the existence and location of every label by physical audit, giving each completed bus a unique ID.
• To supervise the standards, Stewart Signs audit buses at operator depots usually at night, to avoid service disruption, communicating information directly from handheld devices to the database.
• The continuous flow of data from Stewart Signs installers maintains a live database of tracking locations and audit status for efficient and responsive solutions to TfL requests, i.e. promotional advertising changeovers.
• A dedicated TfL web portal provides all the information and guidance needed for builders, operators and repairers to maintain the new standard.
• The web shop allows repairers and operators to obtain the correct parts rapidly without having to stock items, removing the risk of obsolescence.
• For total fleet consistency, Stewart Signs manufacture, store and collate all the graphics in-house to ensure specification compliance and immediate availability.
• Specifying the correct materials for consistency and longevity. Stewart Signs take a whole-life approach, knowing that if a cheaper product fades, lifts or cracks, or is difficult to apply or remove, it will add to the overall contract costs and defeat the consistency and compliance objectives
• With TfL’s recent budget cut, Stewart Signs continued to proactively seek out ways to offer a more cost-effective service, which accumulated direct savings of almost half a million pounds.