Real time London bus information - October 2011

[shinkansen1966]

At the moment, many stops around London have 'countdown' boards showing expected arrival times for the next 3-10 buses, at that stop. I've found the service pretty reliable. You can decide if you have time to pop to the shop before the bus turns up.

Now it looks as if the service will also be available on mobile phones from October 2011.
http://garymalcolm.blogspot.com/2011/07/bus-countdown-news.html

Might even look something like this:
http://www.mobileinc.co.uk/2009/10/...racking-via-sms-mobile-web-in-2011/tfl-idea2/

Does anyone have more details ? what the service will look like, if you can track bus or get info for a specific stop.

 

[Deerfold]

At the moment, many stops around London have 'countdown' boards showing expected arrival times for the next 3-10 buses, at that stop. I've found the service pretty reliable. You can decide if you have time to pop to the shop before the bus turns up.

Now it looks as if the service will also be available on mobile phones from October 2011.
http://garymalcolm.blogspot.com/2011/07/bus-countdown-news.html

Might even look something like this:
http://www.mobileinc.co.uk/2009/10/...racking-via-sms-mobile-web-in-2011/tfl-idea2/

Does anyone have more details ? what the service will look like, if you can track bus or get info for a specific stop.

I wouldn't expect it to look anything like that!

Having seen an early prototype, expect it to look more like this:

http://wymetro.acislive.com/pip/stop_simulator.asp?naptan=45021079&pscode=762&dest=

(though not exactly as it is not being provided by Acis, but by Kizoom)

Texts will look rather like the one on this page: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/11560.aspx

You'll be able to effectively recreate the information from a Countdown sign, even at stops with no sign. I don't know of any plans to let you track an individual bus.

There will be 2504 signs starting to go up soon.

Disappointing that a councillor can't spell properly (and disallows comments from the general public) - "bane" would be preferable to
"bain" - and it's not clear why he thinks it's a bane - he seems quite keen on it.

when he says "Following a review by the Mayor" he means "Following a change in policy by the Mayor and a review by Deerfold"

 

[Statto]

I think this is what the Countdown will look like http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/5058340.Countdown_to_chaos_as_bus_signs_on_move/

It's a shame bus tracking is only in a few areas across the Country, i think it'd be a useful asset for passengers if it was Nationwide especially in areas with infrequent routes.

 

[Deerfold]

I think this is what the Countdown will look like http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/5058340.Countdown_to_chaos_as_bus_signs_on_move/

It's a shame bus tracking is only in a few areas across the Country, i think it'd be a useful asset for passengers if it was Nationwide especially in areas with infrequent routes.

That's what the current ones look like. The new ones will have orange mixed-case displays and will meet DDA-requirements for reability which the current ones don't (but then the current sign spec dates from the early 90s).

The councillors in that article we complaining that the new signs were going to be deployed at stops which more passengers used. They've got their way and the signs will be replacing the current ones, no matter how poorly used those stops are.

 

[142094]

Problem with RTI is the cost of installing it - a few years ago it was £5000 per bus stop, plus additional funding for maintenance and leccy. I dread to think how many bus stops there are in London, never mind across the UK.

A mobile phone app or text service that charges a nominal fee to cover costs is probably the best short term idea.

 

[Deerfold]

Problem with RTI is the cost of installing it - a few years ago it was £5000 per bus stop, plus additional funding for maintenance and leccy. I dread to think how many bus stops there are in London, never mind across the UK.

There's about 19000 in use in London (plus non-boarding stands, out of use stops and various other specials that take the number over 22000).

At one talk there was talk of funding for 4000 signs but that dropped! There are about 1800 up at the moment so there will be a fair few extra - especially in the City of London which only has 2 signs at the moment!

 

[radamfi]

Real time bus information is already available in certain areas, such as Brighton, Crawley and West Yorkshire, as shown above. This can be accessed in various ways, on the web, mobile app, or text message. The apps for the various mobile platforms are advertised on the Metrobus site:

http://www.metrobus.co.uk/

Where no real time information exists, these apps still show timetabled information. When new areas go online, such as TfL later this year, then these apps will pick up this data.

You don't actually need to spend money on an app as the site

www.nextbuses.mobi

will work just fine.

For example, the West Yorkshire example given above is also available through that site:

http://www.nextbuses.mobi/departure...EF3AFF4B71F44.busmobile-p1?stopCode=450021079

 

[142094]

There's about 19000 in use in London (plus non-boarding stands, out of use stops and various other specials that take the number over 22000).

At one talk there was talk of funding for 4000 signs but that dropped! There are about 1800 up at the moment so there will be a fair few extra - especially in the City of London which only has 2 signs at the moment!

£5,000 was the price quoted in West Yorkshire as part of developer contributions, and this didn't cover electricity or maintenance. Not entirely sure how much it costs to run through its lifetime, but if it increases the amount of people using public transport and not their cars then it can only be a good thing.