Vodafone staff catch the early bus to work

VODAFONE STAFF CATCH THE EARLY BUS TO WORK Staff who work at Vodafone's Newbury headquarters will soon be the first in the UK's private sector to enjoy an easier journey to work by having access to real time information on the progress of the company's own shuttle buses around the town. By summer 2002, Vodafone's fleet of buses will each be equipped with a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) unit which will continually transmit and update the buses' progress around town via Vodafone's General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). This information is automatically collated and processed by the ACIS BusNet system. Staff wanting information about the buses can access the information on their PCs, or will be able to send a text message to a Vodafone 'short code' number which will text them back with bus details. Ultimately the system will receive and recognize the caller's bus stop location short code and then information will be sent on the relevant sequence of buses coming their way. Vodafone UK's Property Director, Mike Newens commented: "Vodafone is determined to help ease the Newbury traffic and parking problems by introducing innovative and practical solutions to help staff out of their cars. This scheme is clearly groundbreaking but it should be seen as one more of the initiatives in our Travel Plan, which includes financial incentives to staff who choose not to use a parking space, an on-line car sharing solution and measures to encourage more cycle and motorcycle use." Vodafone is keen for this innovation to be adopted by others and is therefore also selling this tracking and information solution to the public and private sectors through its corporate sales channels under the name VoRTIS. - ends - For further information contact: Libby Pritchard or Funke Madariola At the Vodafone Group Press Office Tel: 07000 500100 Email: press.office@vodafone.com 2002/015 - Page 2 Notes to editors: Vodafone is Newbury's largest employer, with more than 3,500 staff based in the town. Currently Vodafone's Newbury operation is spread over more than 60 buildings, which necessitates movement of staff between buildings during the day by bus as well as lunchtime excursions into the town. Parking facilities at some of the locations are limited which has also lead to the implementation of a 'park and ride' service. Vodafone is currently building a new World Headquarters on the edge of Newbury which also has limited parking spaces and the first occupation of these buildings will begin later in the year. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/02/21/20020221BIT01260/bit0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/02/21/20020221BIT01260/bit0001.pdf