Community transport software FAQs

OpenCommute is community transport software for UK schemes. Platform users run bookings, fleet, invoicing, and member records from the admin panel. Members will book and manage journeys through a dedicated app.

Community transport organisations, volunteer-driver schemes, and groups that move passengers with shared vehicles. It is built for coordinators and volunteers — not generic fleet dispatch for commercial operators.

Platform users are staff and volunteers who log into the admin panel with a role such as Admin or Manager. Members are the passengers, drivers, and volunteers you serve. Member records are managed by platform users; the member app for self-service booking is coming soon.

Every new organisation gets a 28-day free trial with no payment required. You can invite platform users, explore bookings and fleet tools, and cancel before the trial ends if it is not the right fit. Start a free trial.

Starter, Community, and Community Plus, with clear monthly limits for platform users, members, vehicles, and storage. Annual billing saves 10%. See the pricing page for current limits and costs.

Seven booking types: Open, One-to-one, Driver own, Group, Internal, Block, and Training. Each has its own workflow for approval, assignment, buffers, and costing. See all booking types.

Not yet. Platform users manage member records and bookings in the admin panel today. A dedicated member app for bookings, payments, and journey status is coming soon.

Yes. Connect Stripe and GoCardless in Settings so member invoice payments go to your organisation. Members can pay issued invoices online by card or Direct Debit from the public invoice link.

Yes. Each team’s data is isolated. Platform users only see what their role allows, and activity is tracked with a full audit history. See how we protect your organisation.

The platform uses Cloudflare and a web application firewall, email two-factor authentication, role-based access, an audit trail, SSL in transit, organisation-scoped data, daily backups, and AWS hosting in London. See security for the full list.

Yes. Billing contacts can manage the subscription from Settings after the trial. You can change plan or cancel according to your Stripe billing cycle — no long-term lock-in from OpenCommute.

Yes. OpenCommute is community transport booking software for dial-a-ride, community minibus, and volunteer-driver schemes. Open bookings cover shared routes; one-to-one, group, internal, and block types cover the rest of the diary. See booking types.

Yes. OpenCommute replaces spreadsheet diaries with a shared live calendar, vehicle clash checks, volunteer driver assignment, and invoices generated from bookings. Start a free trial to run it alongside your current sheet.

Yes. Fleet records include MOT, tax, insurance, and maintenance dates, with alerts before deadlines are missed. See features for compliance tracking.

Yes. OpenCommute is community transport software for UK schemes — community car schemes, dial-a-ride, and minibus operators — not generic taxi dispatch. Servers run on Amazon AWS with data isolated to a London data centre. See features or pricing.

Open bookings are the dial-a-ride workflow: shared journeys on a planned route, with a passenger list, vehicle assignment, and buffers between jobs. One-to-one lifts and group hire stay on the same diary so coordinators are not switching tools. See dial-a-ride software or start a free trial.

Yes. Coordinators assign volunteer drivers, email a driver request with accept and decline links, and keep a record of who was asked. Training checklists and driving-licence checks sit on the person, and can block assignment until they are complete. See features.

Many UK schemes compare OpenCommute with longer-standing systems such as OPTiMiSe and CATSS. We do not claim feature-for-feature parity with those products. OpenCommute is a modern, cloud-hosted platform for community transport bookings, fleet, members, and invoicing. The honest way to judge fit is to try it against the diary you run today — see features and pricing.

OpenCommute does not generate a ready-to-submit Bus Service Operators Grant claim. It does record journey mileage and offers printable and CSV mileage reports by date, vehicle, booking type, and driver, which many teams use as evidence when they prepare a BSOG return. See features.

Yes, as your own training records. Create checklists — for example MiDAS, PATS, or an in-house induction — and optionally require them before a driver can be assigned. Training bookings record trainer-led sessions. OpenCommute is not an official MiDAS system and does not issue CTA certificates. See features.

Yes. One-to-one bookings are the usual fit for volunteer car schemes. Open, group, and block types cover shared minibus work. Fleet compliance is tracked per vehicle, so a mixed fleet can sit on one diary. See community car scheme software, features, or compare plans.

Generic tools treat every trip as the same job. Community transport needs separate workflows for dial-a-ride, volunteer lifts, group hire, training, and blocked vehicles, plus member records that are not admin logins. That is what OpenCommute features are built around. Start a free trial if you want to test those booking types with your team.