Skip to main content

App taps into world’s largest and most complex real time passenger info system

Transport for London’s (TfL) award winning Countdown System delivers bus real time information for every one of the 19,000 bus stops and 700 routes in London is claimed to be the largest and most technically complex real time passenger information system of its kind in the world. In 2009 Telent was awarded the contract by TfL to develop the Countdown software to deliver web and mobile content.
July 11, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS1466 Transport for London’s (TfL) award winning Countdown System delivers bus real time information for every one of the 19,000 bus stops and 700 routes in London is claimed to be the largest and most technically complex real time passenger information system of its kind in the world. In 2009 525 Telent was awarded the contract by TfL to develop the Countdown software to deliver web and mobile content.

Following on from that success, UK-headquartered Telent has launched a new iphone app called BUStop London which takes full advantage of the information provided by the Countdown system. The app provides a clean user interface allowing users to easily see their nearest bus stops and travel options. It has seamless integration with social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook as well as allowing the easy sending of emails and SMS messages in-app. This means that users can efficiently share information, in a variety of ways, based on their location and bus travel plans.

BUStop London also allows users to set customisable alerts notifying them when a bus is approaching a selected stop. For example, a user could set an alert for five minutes before their bus reaches their nearest stop, thus allowing them to finish their coffee. A user could also set an alert when they’re 100 metres from their destination stop helping ensure they alight at the right place, and through integration with Facebook, Twitter and SMS, users now can conveniently let friends and family know their arrival times and destinations directly from the app.

The app is available from the Apple AppStore, and for a limited time is a free download.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Real-time traffic updates to be displayed on London buses
    August 16, 2016
    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
  • Data handling important for autonomous vehicles
    December 8, 2016
    Data handling is becoming an ever-greater part of transportation and never more so than with autonomous vehicles, as Andrew Bardin Williams hears from some big names.
  • Open-source journey planning - the way forward?
    January 23, 2012
    Peter Bell, managing director of journey planning provider Trapeze Group, ponders the business models which will underpin future travel information services from a UK perspective Traditionally, journey planning websites for public transport in the UK (for example, Transport Direct, the Traveline regions or National Rail Enquiries) have been provided by the transport operators keen to increase ridership and revenues, or by public bodies who hope to encourage a modal switch to public transport by making it e
  • China Telecom selects Gemalto contactless payment
    March 24, 2015
    Amsterdam-based digital security provider Gemalto is to provide China Telecom with a mobile contactless payment solution using its UpTeq Multi-tenant NFC SIMs to deploy secure NFC transport services in China's two largest cities, Shanghai and Beijing. China Telecom is a leading operator in the country with more than 183 million subscribers. This deployment will enable up to 45 million daily commuters to travel on the metro and pay for everyday purchases with a simple tap of their smartphone. The NFC SIMs ar