Where's my bus?
Submitted by: C Bailey
Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?
Fit all buses with GPS and a transmitter to feed back to a website allowing the user to monitor a bus's location in relation to bus-stops. The information should be displayed on a map via a website or via your mobile phone.
Would save a lot of standing around when buses are delayed or broken down, and help people visiting from other areas trying to use public transport.
Obviously not going to be possible with £20,000 but a good idea non-the-less.
What information or services do you need?
National OS maps, location of all bus-stops, upgrade to buses to included GPS & transmitter.
Posted by Deepa on 23 September 2008 at 06:24 PM
Hey all,
How does the bus info display system work in San Francisco?
Do they all work on a GPS based technology? If so then what explains the display of incorrect timings sometimes at the bus stop? does this have anything to do with the wind factor and thus the incorrect reception of information?
Posted by Antonio D'souza on 06 August 2008 at 12:12 AM
The Muni in San Francisco does this too. Check out NextMuni.com
Posted by Phil B-L on 10 July 2008 at 08:18 AM
I'm sure bus drivers have mobile phones. If they were issued with ones with a gps receiver services are already available that can map the positions. It would just take a bit of thought as to how to best integrate this and make it a national resource.
Posted by Mike Franklin on 08 July 2008 at 12:37 AM
This is an idea I've started playing with. I'm talking to a bus company at the moment with regards to them letting me use their data.
From what I can work out, many services list the service time from a timetable if GPS data isnt available.
I'll be sure to let you know how i get on. Of course, this could be extended to many different services as mentioned above.
It would be amazing if data like this was publically available to all in a standard format. It would improve these services greatly and improve peoples experience of using these services.
Posted by Haider on 07 July 2008 at 03:10 PM
fantastic idea.
Posted by Allan Thompson on 05 July 2008 at 11:17 PM
Many systems work like this already, passing real time information from a bus location to the information display at bus stops - or they should be... sometimes the real time display works to a timetable rather than the actual GPS transmitter location.
This system could be extended not simply to mobile phones - but to local TV channels so that the time to actually walk to the bus stop and approximate arrival time of the bus could be compared and displayed on the TV/media screen.
THis idea could also be used for refuse trucks so that I don't miss another pick-up... and parcel delivery truck so I know when it will arrive!
3rd Parties might use the data to direct taxis, fire tenders, police beat vehicles and ambulances.
Posted by Petr on 05 July 2008 at 09:18 AM
That's a great idea. The Helsinki transport system is first class...
If we are encouraged/bullied to use less of our car and use the public transport more than we need a tool that provides similar level of convenience to using public transport.
I would like to see this being adopted to mobile phones, so you can track if you are going to make the connection/transfer to other service, leave your house/office, etc in good time, so you don't stand on the stop for ages.
In my opinion an fully integrated system including trains and spanning across all UK town and cities would be a first class service.
Posted by QuestionThat on 04 July 2008 at 04:47 PM
Something like this was in Boris Johnson's Transport manifesto. Hope it comes to fruition.
Posted by darrylxxx on 03 July 2008 at 10:40 PM
Helsinki is doing that http://transport.wspgroup.fi/hklkartta/
Posted by Kes on 03 July 2008 at 04:07 PM
This is a good idea and certainly something I would find useful - Edinburgh City Council provide a similar tracking service already;
http://www.mybustracker.co.uk/
From looking at the site it looks like it uses NAPTAN bus stop references in the background, so the data could easily be integrated into a nationwide site/feed.