UK consults on offering real-time info to bus riders

The UK government has launched a consultation on whether bus operators should be legally obliged to share data with the public. If the answer is yes, then passengers across the country would be given real-time information on routes, timetables and fares. Bus minister Nusrat Ghani says: “By requiring bus operators to share their data, we can make sure that passengers have the information they need to catch the bus with ease, equipped with the right information about the time and cost.” Additionally, th
July 5, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The UK government has launched a consultation on whether bus operators should be legally obliged to share data with the public. If the answer is yes, then passengers across the country would be given real-time information on routes, timetables and fares.


Bus minister Nusrat Ghani says: “By requiring bus operators to share their data, we can make sure that passengers have the information they need to catch the bus with ease, equipped with the right information about the time and cost.”

Additionally, the consultation will also look at making companies provide audio and visual information on buses to help disabled and the elderly passengers travel more confidently.

James White, senior campaigns manager at the charity Guide Dogs, says: “Accessible information on board buses is absolutely vital to help people with sight loss travel with confidence.”

The project will also support local services where demand is failing and help increase ridership across the UK.

Ghani made the announcement at Reading Buses, which is already using open data to improve bus journeys. The operator says it has seen a 48% increase in ridership through a number of initiatives focused on making information more easily available.

Related Content

  • Kapsch offers EETS–compliant Tolling Services
    June 7, 2017
    Kapsch’s Bernd Eberstaller explains how the company’s new Tolling Services will help expand the number and capabilities of EETS services providers. By 2017, the European Electronic Tolling Service (EETS) should have been in operation for several years but it still remains some way away and with several significant hurdles still to be addressed. The concept behind EETS is simple enough: road users should be able to drive across Europe using only a single transponder to pay for all tolls, with the account-han
    Read More
  • UK regions to be offered legal powers to transform transport
    November 13, 2015
    UK government plans to give the regions new powers to transform transport in their areas took a major step forward this week with the publication of proposals in Parliament. As part of the government’s drive to deliver economic growth across the country, including the creation of a Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine, organisations like Transport for the North (TfN) are now closer to becoming statutory bodies. The legal powers and duties being offered as part of this commitment to devolution will
    Read More
  • Monitoring and transparency preserve enforcement's reputation
    July 30, 2012
    What can be done to preserve automated enforcement's reputation in the face of media and public criticism? Here, system manufacturers and suppliers talk about what they think are the most appropriate business models. Recent events in Italy only served to once again to push automated enforcement into the media spotlight. At the heart of the matter were the numerous alleged instances of local authorities and their contract suppliers of enforcement services colluding to illegally shorten amber signal phase tim
    Read More
  • Arriva MaaS app unifies Dutch transport 
    September 2, 2021
    Passengers can sort the app’s ‘suggested routes’ via total level of CO2
    Read More

Highlighted Content