A changing tide.
On the 11th of January 2023 the operators of the lifeline Rathlin Ferry declared that they would make their last sailing that day. An inefficient paper-based ticketing and reporting system had contributed to “financial difficulties” at the operator and the service was no longer viable.
The Department for Infrastrucuture in Northern Ireland awarded Dunaverty Limited the contract to operate the lifeline crossing on Friday 13th January 2023. Dunaverty had just 3 months to get the operation in order before the busy season started in April. To avoid the mistakes of the past it was critical that Dunaverty Limited invested in a comprehensive and modern software system that could handle the complexities of a public service ferry operation.
Rough seas ahead?
The requirements for the software included online ticket sales for passengers, concessions and social welfare passes, and vehicles. Staff in the terminal had to be able to manage, change, or refund tickets in the event of cancellations. The system had to manage complex loading patterns for vehicles including dangerous goods and large construction lorries. One of the largest aspects of the system was the comprehensive suite of reporting required to manage the public service obligations of the service.
Dunaverty Limited engaged with several ticketing system providers, but none could match the requirements and the costs in some cases were extraordinarily high. Perfidious Albert Limited proposed a bespoke suits of applications including a Microsoft .Net API (an application that allows third party software to integrate with your software), a customer facing ticket sales website, an office administration platform, a crew ticket checking and boarding app for use on rugged Android tablets, and a comprehensive suite of reports built on Microsoft Power BI. We also installed and configured Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft 365 for the company – giving all staff secure access to documents, reports, email, and the applications we developed. We hosted the system on Microsoft Azure – a cloud-based platform that offers world class security and reliability.
A very fast crossing.
We developed the system in a hyper-fast time-frame with the first release of online ticket sales happening on the 1st April 2023 – just 6 weeks after we signed contracts. Over the following 6 months we migrated Rathlin Ferry from a paper and pen-based ticketing system to an exclusively e-commerce-based ticketing system.
It is hard to quantify the extraordinary efficiencies that the new system introduced, but as an example in summer 2022 there were 30-minute-long queues of people waiting to purchase tickets to the island from three ticketing staff. In summer 2023 the queues no longer existed, and the terminal could operate efficiently with just one staff member on the ticketing desk. The passengers now simply walk onto the ferry with their tickets on their phones.
A very smooth crossing.
As we write this case study the system has now been operational for 18 months and we handle absolutely zero support calls relating to customer issues or problems. We never receive a call saying a customer was unable to book a ticket, overcharged, undercharged, or any other issues. In the last 12 months the only support issues that Dunaverty Limited have logged with us have been some requests to set-up new users on the system and some formatting changes to reports. The system is utterly reliable, extremely efficient, and has been a complete game changer for the ferry service from Ballycastle to Rathlin. As a result, Dunaverty Limited is meeting its contractual obligations and has secured a continued contract to run the service.
Screenshots of the Rathlin Ferry System
