Getting started

This guide takes you from a new account to your first run on the road. Most venues are set up in under 30 minutes.

You’ll need to be an owner or admin to complete the setup steps. If someone else created your venue’s account, ask them to add you as an admin first.

New to CertaBus?

Read the Overview first for a quick explanation of runs, jobs, regulars and timetables.

1. Create your account

1. Go to the CertaBus website and fill in the Create Free Account form, or click Trial at the top of the page.
2. Enter your Full Name, Email and a Password, then create your account.
3. Log in. You’ll land on the Runs page.

Every new venue gets a free 30-day trial. There are no setup fees and no credit card is needed.

2. Add your venue details

Your venue’s address is where runs start and finish, so set it up before anything else.

1. Click Admin in the top menu. You’ll open on the My Account tab.
2. Under Organisation, enter your venue’s Organisation Name, Address, Billing Email and Phone Number.
3. Under Service area, choose how far you’ll pick up from:
   • Range radius: enter a distance from the venue. Leave it empty for no limit.
   • Zones: limit pickups to areas you draw on a map (see the next step).
4. Save your changes.

3. Draw your zones (optional)

Zones are useful if you only pick up from certain suburbs, or if different buses cover different areas. Skip this step if you’re using a radius.

1. In Admin, open the Zones tab.
2. Draw each area you pick up from on the map.
3. Go back to My Account and set the Service area to Zones. You need at least one zone before you can save this setting.

Once you have zones, you can set each run to cover a particular zone.

4. Add your buses

1. In Admin, open the Buses tab and click Add a bus.
2. Fill in the details:
   • Name: what your team calls the bus, such as “Bus 1” or “Big Bus”.
   • Description: anything that helps tell it apart, such as its registration.
   • Capacity: the number of passenger seats. This sets the maximum passengers you can book on a job, and lets you see how many seats are taken as a run fills up.
   • Color: used to tell buses apart on the Runs page.
3. Click Save. Repeat for each bus in your fleet.

5. Add your team

Add everyone who will take bookings or drive, so they each have their own login.

1. In Admin, open the Users tab and click Add a user.

2. Enter their name, email and phone number.

3. Choose their role:

   • User: can take bookings and manage runs, and view and import timetables. Use this for drivers.
   • Admin: everything a user can do, plus change users, buses, zones, timetables and settings.
   • Owner: everything an admin can do, plus add and edit owners.

4. Save. They’ll receive an email invite to set a password and log in.

Users who haven’t accepted their invite yet are marked in the list, and you can resend the invite from their details.

6. Add your regulars (optional)

If you have passengers who ride often, save them as regulars so you can book them in seconds.

1. Click Regulars in the top menu.
2. Add each passenger’s Name, Membership number, Phone, Address and any Special Instructions, such as “Needs help with the step”.
3. Click Save Regular.

You can also leave this for now. Regulars build up naturally as you take bookings.

7. Set up a timetable (optional)

If your bus runs at the same times each week, a timetable saves you creating every run by hand.

1. Click Timetables in the top menu and add a timetable, such as “Friday night”.
2. Add a run for each departure, with its Time, Bus and, if you use zones, its Zone.

On the Runs page, click Import timetable to add all of a timetable’s runs to the selected day at once. Runs that are already on that day aren’t added twice.

8. Schedule your first run

1. Click Runs in the top menu and pick the date on the calendar.
2. Click Add a run, or Import timetable to add a whole timetable.
3. Set the Departure Time and Assign Bus. If you use zones, choose the Zone the run covers, or leave it as Any zone.
4. Click Create Run.

9. Take your first booking

Each booking is a job on a run.

1. On the Runs page, find the run and click Manage Jobs.
2. Fill in the passenger’s details. Start typing a name to pick from your regulars, or enter a new passenger’s Name, Phone, Membership and Address.
3. Choose Pickup or Dropoff, and the number of passengers.
4. Add any Special instructions, then click Save Job.

Jobs appear in the order the driver will do them. You can drag them into a different order, and the change shows up straight away on the driver’s phone.

10. Get your drivers on the app

The driver app runs on any modern smartphone. There’s nothing to download from an app store.

1. On the driver’s phone, go to the CertaBus website, scroll to Driver App and tap Install Driver App. If you’re on a computer, scan the QR code with the phone instead.
2. Install the app:
   • Android: tap Install Driver App, then Install.
   • iPhone: tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen, then Add.
3. Open CertaBus from the Home Screen and log in with the driver’s own email and password.
4. Choose the bus they’re driving. They’ll see that bus’s runs for the day, with every job in order.
5. Tap Turn on to get a notification when the office sends a message.

Note

The office can see which driver is in which bus on the Buses and Users tabs in Admin.

You’re ready to go

That’s everything you need for your first night. From here:

• Use Message Driver on the Runs page to send drivers a message.
• Check Admin → Analytics to see your jobs, passengers and where trips come from.
• Find answers to common questions in the FAQ.

Stuck on a step? Contact our team and we’ll help you get set up.