How a Scottish bus company is challenging the whole idea of 'dynamic pricing' for tickets
The founders of Ember say they did not want their passengers ‘to feel exploited every time they travel’
Ember, the Edinburgh-based coach company, is about to expand into England with plans to increase its workforce from about 450 to nearly 1,000 within a year-and-a-half. So what’s the secret to its success?
Well, its buses are new and electric, and offer speedy 5G wifi. It has introduced the idea of ‘dynamic stops’, which are bypassed if no one has booked to travel to or from there, enabling faster journeys but also direct travel to smaller places.
And, seemingly going against the modern tide, the company does not use controversial ‘dynamic pricing’. This means prices do not soar in response to increased demand – for example, during a train strike – but also do not plummet if few people have booked.
Ember co-founder Pierce Glennie told The Scotsman: “Most people end up paying far more for the same product [with dynamic pricing] and we didn’t want to create something that makes people feel exploited every time they travel.”
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