RideTandem has completed more than one million passenger journeys - helping thousands of people commute to work.
At the same time, our shuttle buses have helped people earn more than £50 million in wages at jobs they wouldn’t have been able to get to otherwise.
Founder & CEO Alex Shapland-Howes, said: "It's hard to believe it's only been four years since it was just me and my two co-founders, standing outside an industrial estate at 5am in the morning - researching how transport poverty was impacting people's lives.
“We're incredibly proud to have hit one million passenger journeys and as we’re growing so fast we expect to hit 2 million very soon.
“Hitting this milestone, alongside helping people to earn £50 million in wages in jobs they couldn’t have got to without our transport, is a super proud moment for us. This is what we hoped for when we launched at the end of 2019.
“We’re excited to continue supporting people into work and helping businesses access a wider talent pool."
Improving Commuting and Unlocking Opportunities for All
Commuting is stressful, inefficient and expensive for thousands of people. Over the past decade, public bus routes have been cut from 18,000 to less than 11,000.
Whether it's a part-time job, a temporary role for peak periods, or shift work, RideTandem aims to ensure that no job remains out of reach due to the cost, or availability, of transport.
Providing a Bus to Work
Before founding RideTandem our CEO, Alex Shapland-Howes, met a group of unemployed fathers in Rochdale, just outside Manchester, who were discussing the problems they were having with finding work. They said their biggest barrier to finding and keeping jobs was transportation.
Their story had a huge impact and led to RideTandem launching in 2019. It started with a simple, yet ambitious, goal: to transform the way people commute. Providing sustainable, affordable and efficient transportation for all is the reason we exist.
Tech-backed Workplace Transport
RideTandem partners with local, often family-run, transport companies to create bus services for hard-to-reach locations. But the reason so many businesses are seeing an impact is because of the technology underpinning the services themselves.
Our dashboard allows businesses to see who has booked on each service, where those buses are on route and how full they are. Employers can also see attendance data - even before shifts begin - allowing them to backfill vacancies and adjust shifts accordingly.
Passengers use the rider app to book and pay for their tickets. They’re given a QR code which is scanned when they board the bus. They’re also able to track the bus as it’s on its way to their stop - minimising their wait times and making commuting an easy, convenient experience.
Sustainable Shuttle Buses
The average RideTandem vehicle carries almost 30 people on board compared to the average commuter car of 1.14 passengers which helps avoid carbon emissions and provide more sustainable commuting.
Trips on RideTandem services have also helped avoid more than 8,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions to date.
Our shuttles adapt to the number of people that book on. So if there’s only 3 or 4 people that need to get home at 2am, we can send a shared taxi. If there’s 20 people, we send a bus. This helps reduce congestion and carbon emissions as if there’s nobody booked, we just don’t send a service.
The Future of Workplace Transport
As we continue our mission to the next million passenger journeys, our focus remains the same. Enabling sustainable, affordable and cost-effective commuting for everyone - regardless of where they live.
We’re setting up new routes for businesses across the UK and Europe every week. If you’re struggling to recruit new workers, have issues retaining the staff you have or need to reduce your Scope 3 emissions, get in touch.
