Freeway Launches AI-Powered Data Assistant at Euro Bus Expo 2026
Ask Freeway allows bus and coach operators to query their maintenance data using questions in plain English.
Freeway Fleet Systems has announced Ask Freeway, a new AI-powered data assistant that allows bus and coach operators to ask questions of their fleet maintenance data and receive meaningful answers in seconds.
Ask Freeway will be demonstrated at Euro Bus Expo 2026, where visitors will be able to see how questions asked in everyday language can be used to extract information and insights from fleet maintenance data.
Conversational analytics for fleet maintenance
Building on Freeway’s Insight-AI technology, launched in 2024, Ask Freeway introduces conversational analytics to fleet maintenance. It can search across engineering records, defects, labour, parts, inspections, servicing and compliance information. Because the information is connected and structured, the system can search the complete maintenance history to answer complex questions.
Managers can ask questions such as: “Which vehicles have had the most repeat defects in the last six months, and can you show the count grouped by component?” Other questions might include: “Which manufacturer is costing us the most in parts?”, “Which PM inspections are overdue this week?” or “Why has vehicle ABC123 been off the road for so long?”
Instead of navigating different areas of a fleet management system, running reports or exporting data for further analysis, users simply ask for the information they need.
“Ask Freeway changes the way people interact with a fleet maintenance system. Previously, the user needed to understand where information was held, which reports to run and how to analyse the results. Now they can simply ask a question in plain English. Instead of having to learn the system, the system understands them.”
Patrick Tandy, Managing Director, Freeway Fleet Systems
Built on structured data
The effectiveness of Ask Freeway is underpinned by the way maintenance information is captured. Rather than simply computerising existing paper processes, Freeway captures structured data digitally at the point of activity, including inspections, defects, workshop jobs, parts usage and other maintenance tasks.
This creates a detailed and connected digital maintenance history encompassing defects, inspections, jobs, parts, labour, costs, downtime and compliance. The information is available in real time across the business and provides the structured data that Ask Freeway can analyse using AI.
“AI is only as useful as the information available to it,” adds Tandy. “Operators using Freeway are continually building a very detailed digital picture of their fleet. Ask Freeway can bring all that information together. A manager could ask why a particular vehicle has been off the road for so long, for example, and the system can interrogate its maintenance history to help identify the reasons.”
Ask Freeway can be used for everyday workshop queries as well as wider management analysis. Operators can investigate repeat defects, compare vehicles and manufacturers, analyse parts and labour expenditure, monitor inspections and compliance, and identify trends that might otherwise be difficult to spot. The technology also makes sophisticated analysis available to managers without requiring specialist data-analysis skills.
“The really exciting development is that maintenance data stops being something you simply record and retrieve,” says Tandy. “It becomes something you can have a conversation with. You ask the question you actually want answered and Ask Freeway uses the data already captured across the business to provide the insight.”
About Freeway Fleet Systems
Freeway Fleet Systems is a global provider of digital solutions for managing vehicles and assets, working seamlessly across different locations and platforms. Its software provides an all-in-one solution to manage workshops, defects, stores, purchasing and compliance. Users include Transdev, Lothian Buses, Bus Éireann, First Bus, trentbarton, Reading Buses, Nottingham City Transport and Go-Ahead.
Visit Freeway Fleet Systems on stand 358 at Euro Bus Expo 2026, 3–5 November, NEC Birmingham.