Real-Time UK-Wide Public Transport Data For PassageWay
Obtaining reliable, robust real time public transport data is currently a very complex task in the UK.
BODS, the DFT funded ‘free’ database of operator data only covers England with limited submissions from the borders of Wales and Scotland. The data platform is not without it’s (known) issues, which means that greater intervention is needed to ensure the best information is shared with the public.
Traveline, the UK wide non-profit curator of public transport data for Local Authorities and operators produces a different dataset to that offered via BODS because they add in Authority derived interventions, they also dedupe the data, add missing route geometry, run checks and fix issues.
In short, what this means is that BODS and Traveline represent two versions of the same data. With Traveline historically having the advantage of data quality due to their interventions. What this means for data consumers is that frequent gaps exist in the data between the two services due to the level of interventions made.
It is for this reason that we have partnered with data expert TransportAPI to provide comprehensive UK coverage for our real-time digital signs for buses, coaches, and other modes of public transportation.
TransportAPI has been selected as our preferred data partner because they employ a multi-source model to aggregate schedule data from both BODS and Traveline, they then validate it to generate the highest quality of data. Cleverly, TransportAPI then merge this data with multi-sourced tracking information on the live position of services to provide the best real-time information available.
Alongside their exceptional data quality standard, we chose TransportAPI for their developer-friendly approach; single API access, scalability, and reliability, along with their professional service level support. The partnership with TransportAPI also provides PassageWay clients with the advantage of a collaborative roadmap for enhancing services.
Please contact us to find out more information about our partnership with TransportAPI