Type of site | Bus Timetable Website |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Founder(s) | Joshua Goodwin [1] |
Current status | Live |
Written in | Python 3.9+ |
Bustimes.org is a transportation information website created to take advantage of Bus Services Act 2017 requirement for bus operators in England to provide bus timetables, fares and vehicle locations in an open data format, which can be utilised by app and website developers. [2] This DfT service is called the Bus Open Data Service.
The website also provides information on bus services in parts of the UK to which the Bus Services Act 2017 information requirement does not apply, as well as in Ireland.
Location data from operators such as Lothian Buses is supplied to the site via the Transport for Edinburgh Open Data system. [3]
The site uses data from AVL tracking to determine and transmit the geographic location of a vehicle, such as data from Ticketer machines and the iBus system, in order to display live bus positions on a map.[ citation needed ]
The site also uses data from the National Public Transport Gazetteer, and bus stop locations from NaPTAN.
The live tracking system was added in response to the Department for Transport stating that they wanted "to see more people taking the bus, and those who do take it to have the best possible experience." [4] with fares for companies operating the Passenger MyTrip system being added in 2022. [5] Vehicle details (such as liveries, registration plates and fleet numbers) are all added by individual contributors using the edit vehicle information section. [6]
The website was criticised by Centrebus Group owner, Julian Peddle, as lacking authority, not being an "official website", and questioning if trust can be placed in its information [7] in an article in Buses Magazine about bus timetable information.
National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by the British Railways Board, from 1965 using the brand name British Rail. Northern Ireland, which is bordered by the Republic of Ireland, has a different system. National Rail services share a ticketing structure and inter-availability that generally do not extend to services which were not part of British Rail.
A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger information systems; less busy stops may use a simple pole and flag to mark the location. Bus stops are, in some locations, clustered together into transport hubs allowing interchange between routes from nearby stops and with other public transport modes to maximise convenience.
Metlink was the marketing body and umbrella brand for public train, tram and bus transport operators in Melbourne, Australia. On 2 April 2012, the operations of Metlink were transferred to the newly created public transport planning and management authority, Public Transport Victoria.
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus services to TfL, controlled by the Mayor of London.
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus franchising and highway management powers similar to Transport for London. TfWM's policies and strategy are set by the Transport Delivery Committee of the WMCA.
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The Transport Direct Programme was a division of the UK Department for Transport (DfT) to develop standards, data and better information technology systems to support public transport. It developed and operates the Transport Direct Portal which is a public facing multi-modal journey planner. It also supports the creation and management of comprehensive databases of all public transport movements in the United Kingdom with Traveline. During 2010 two key datasets were released as Open Data and published on www.data.gov.uk.
A penalty fare, standard fare, or fixed penalty notice is a special, usually higher, fare charged because a passenger using public transport did not comply with the normal ticket purchasing rules. It should not be confused with an unpaid fares notice.
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National Express West Midlands (NXWM), also operating under the West Midlands Bus brand identity, is an English bus operator in the West Midlands, a subsidiary of Mobico Group. It is the largest bus operator in the region and one of the single largest in Britain.
Bus Vannin - styled as bus vannin - is the government-owned and operated bus service on the Isle of Man. The name was adopted in June 2009 to replace Isle of Man Transport. The company was founded on 1 October 1976, as National Transport, which was an amalgamation of two other operating companies.
Public transport is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typically managed on a schedule, operated on established routes, and that may charge a posted fee for each trip. There is no rigid definition of which kinds of transport are included, and air travel is often not thought of when discussing public transport—dictionaries use wording like "buses, trains, etc." Examples of public transport include city buses, trolleybuses, trams and passenger trains, rapid transit and ferries. Public transport between cities is dominated by airlines, coaches, and intercity rail. High-speed rail networks are being developed in many parts of the world.
iBus is an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system to improve London Buses using technology installed by Siemens. The system tracks all London's buses, providing passengers with audio-visual announcements and improved information on bus arrivals, as well as triggering bus priority at traffic lights.
Buses in Milton Keynes are run by a mixture of operators on a network of urban and rural routes in and around the Milton Keynes urban area. These services have a varied history involving five different companies. At the foundation of the 'New City' in 1967 and for some years afterwards, Milton Keynes was served by a rural bus service between and to the pre-existing towns. Apart from a small-scale experimental service, urban buses arrived on the scene with deregulation in 1986. Since April 2010 the core local services have been provided by Arriva Shires & Essex. Long-distance coach services also serve MK, often via the Milton Keynes Coachway located near junction 14 of the M1 motorway.
Yourbus was a bus operator in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It ran commercial and tendered local bus services from its base in Heanor.
D&G Bus is a bus operator based in Stoke-on-Trent. They operate local & interurban bus services in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent. D&G Bus is the largest bus operator in Cheshire East & the second-largest in North Staffordshire.
Diamond East Midlands, formerly Midland Classic, is a bus company from Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. Since August 2022, the company is a subsidiary of Rotala.
The Bus Services Act 2017 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for local transport authorities to create partnership schemes to improve bus services in their areas, and to introduce advanced ticketing schemes. The Act also provides for mayoral combined authorities to partially re-regulate bus services by creating franchise schemes similar to the one operated by Transport for London. It, however, prohibits local authorities from reversing complete bus deregulation, which had taken place following the Transport Act 1985, by forming a company for the purpose of providing local services.
The Bus Open Data Service (BODS) is a government-funded service in England, established in 2020 as part of the Bus Services Act 2017. It was created in a partnership between ITO World, the Department for Transport and KPMG.