Overview
Go-Ahead Group appointed Alt Labs to design and deliver The Billion Journey Project, an innovation programme created to bring new thinking, technology, and commercial solutions into one of the UK’s largest transport organisations.
At launch, it was the UK’s largest transport proof-of-concept programme, giving start-ups and scale-ups the opportunity to test their products across live bus and rail networks. Ten businesses completed the first cohort, with seven later securing ongoing contracts with Go-Ahead Group.
Alongside the wider programme, Alt Labs delivered a 12-week accelerator focused on developing practical responses to challenges identified from across the organisation.
The Brief
Go-Ahead Group operated 12 bus companies and five rail companies in the UK, supporting more than one billion passenger journeys each year.
Its size and structure created a complex environment for innovation. Different teams and operating companies faced their own challenges around customer experience, digital services, access to data, operational efficiency, and real-time passenger information. Although there was no shortage of ideas, coordinating the right people, resources, and expertise across the group was difficult.
Go-Ahead Group wanted a programme that could bring departments together around shared challenges, introduce them to new technologies and ways of working, and create a clear route for promising ideas to be tested.
The programme also needed to give ambitious start-ups and scale-ups meaningful access to the transport sector, with the potential to improve passenger journeys across bus and rail services.
The Solution
Alt Labs created The Billion Journey Project as a group-wide platform for innovation, collaboration, and technology development.
The programme connected Go-Ahead teams with businesses offering products and services that could address real operational and customer challenges. It provided a structured way to identify opportunities, develop ideas, test solutions, and assess their potential within a live transport environment.
Alt Labs also designed and ran a dedicated accelerator programme, supporting selected businesses over 12 weeks as they developed their propositions in response to challenges set by Go-Ahead Group.
Our Approach
Alt Labs worked with teams across Go-Ahead Group to understand the issues affecting individual departments, operating companies, and passengers.
These challenges were translated into focused opportunities for participating businesses. The selected start-ups and scale-ups then worked directly with relevant teams to explore how their products could be applied within Go-Ahead’s network.
Across the 12-week accelerator, Alt Labs provided workshops, innovation support, commercial guidance, and opportunities for collaboration. Businesses were able to refine their solutions using real operational insight, data, and customer environments that would otherwise have been difficult to access.
The programme concluded with a demo day, where participants presented their work and the potential for further implementation across the group.
Results
The Billion Journey Project helped Go-Ahead build a stronger culture of innovation across multiple departments while giving participating businesses access to real customers, operational data, and live transport environments from one of the UK's largest networks.
Ten businesses completed the first cohort:
- Airportr: The winner of the first cohort, Airportr is an app-enabled digital service platform allowing passengers to check bags in from home.
- Commuter Club: A UK-based financial services company that provides loans for annual season tickets, allowing commuters to pay in monthly installments.
- TravelAI: A software and context-sensing platform that generates unique insights into how people use transport infrastructure.
- Sheprd: A transportation platform that provides scheduled ride-sharing options for students.
- City Swift: A business intelligence platform utilising big data and predictive analytics to optimise urban bus networks.
- Zeelo: An on-demand coach service using AI-powered algorithms to deliver on-demand coach services.
- Ticketless: An all-in-one app for ticketing, journey planning, and real-time travel information.
- Hygiene Pro Clean: A complete turnkey solution for specialist cleaning, infection control and decontamination.
- Bontouch: An international innovation agency which produces unique and transformative digital customer experiences.
- Realtime Knowledge: A workflow and task management company that provides desktop and mobile inspection, patrolling and reporting tools.
Seven of the ten businesses went on to secure ongoing contracts with Go-Ahead Group, demonstrating the programme’s ability to turn promising ideas into practical, commercially viable solutions.
