Skip to main content

Real-time traffic updates to be displayed on London buses

The iconic London bus is now helping to improve traffic in the Capital as Transport for London (TfL) starts a trial of displaying live traffic information on the back of buses. A number of buses on route 344 are displaying real-time traffic information using digital information boards in what is said to be a world first. The technology is being trialled on buses between Clapham Junction and Liverpool Street to provide London's drivers with a new source of information to help avoid congestion and improve
August 16, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The iconic London bus is now helping to improve traffic in the Capital as 1466 Transport for London (TfL) starts a trial of displaying live traffic information on the back of buses. A number of buses on route 344 are displaying real-time traffic information using digital information boards in what is said to be a world first.

The technology is being trialled on buses between Clapham Junction and Liverpool Street to provide London's drivers with a new source of information to help avoid congestion and improve their journeys and the reliability and efficiency of the roads.

The buses have been fitted with electronic boards by Equitech IT Solutions, which use GPS technology to give accurate and up-to-date traffic information. The information is taken from the TfL variable message sign network, which is fed by TfL's 24-hour traffic control centre.

If successful, this could be expanded across London.

The technology will be used on a further bus route - route 415 between Tulse Hill and Liverpool Street - in the autumn.

The trial follows the successful trial of live traffic information displayed on taxi advertising boards by Brightmove Media, which proved the concept of real-time traffic information delivered in this form.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • How digital navigation is key to managing congestion
    March 24, 2023
    Satnav – not costly civil engineering projects – might point us towards better management of congested road networks, argues David Metz of University College London
  • Integrating ferry transport into smart ticketing
    March 1, 2013
    Transport authorities are increasingly looking to integrate ferry travel into the mix of public transport. David Crawford finds out more. The new A$370m (US$398m) Opal public transport smartcard system being installed by the Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS)-led Pearl consortium in Sydney is geographically the largest in the world to date. The consortium includes the Commonwealth Bank of Australia; Australian retail payment system provider ePay; Australian infrastructure engineering company Downer Group; a
  • Jonathan Raper from TransportAPI is surfing the open data tidal wave
    August 13, 2015
    Jonathan Raper, managing director of the TransportAPI talks to Colin Sowman about the benefits open data can bring to the public transport sector. That the digital revolution would change the world, including transport, was never in doubt but the question has always been: how? Now, with the ‘Millennium Bug’ relegated to a question on quiz shows, the potential and challenges of digital technology are starting to take shape - and Jonathan Raper is in the vanguard. Raper is managing director of the open data t
  • After two decades of research, ITS is getting into its stride
    June 4, 2015
    Colin Sowman gets the global view on how ITS has shaped the way we travel today and what will shape the way we travel tomorrow. Over the past two decades the scope and spread of intelligent transport systems has grown and diversified to encompass all modes of travel while at the same time integrating and consolidating. Two decades ago the idea of detecting cyclists or pedestrians may have been considered impossible and why would you want to do that anyway? Today cyclists can account for a significant propor