188体育

The Department for Transport (DfT) wants to make it easier to travel by bus wherever you are in England.

We鈥檙e making details of bus services available as open data, as required by the . The scope of the open data encompasses:

• timetable data
• fares data
• vehicle location (real-time) data
• historic performance (punctuality) data.

This will enable passengers to:

• plan their journeys with confidence
• spend less time waiting
• find the best value tickets

What we鈥檝e done

To improve bus journeys for everybody we鈥檝e:

• required bus operators to provide open, accurate and up-to-date data (timetable, fares and vehicle location (real-time) data)
• ensured all local bus services across England (outside London) are in scope (and cross-border services too for the English leg of the journey or those coming into or outside of London)
• the public service vehicle open data regulations will enable enforcement and compliance of the requirements

What we鈥檒l do

• continue to work with bus operators and local transport authorities to publish their data
• work with data consumers to transition in using the BODS

Why we鈥檙e doing this?

Buses have significant social, economic, and environmental benefits. But bus usage has been falling for several years, especially outside London. According to the (carried out by Transport Focus) one important reason for this is the lack of journey planning information.

DfT wants to see more people taking the bus, and wants those who do take it to have the best possible experience. We believe that knowing when the bus will arrive will reduce passenger frustration, and save passengers time.

Traveline currently provides an excellent service around some elements of bus data, but BODS will soon add extra dimensions - fares, tickets, and vehicle location.

Publishing your data

BODS is ready for bus operators to begin publishing their timetables, location and fares data. If you need help to publish your data, please contact the BODS help-desk at bodshelpdesk@kpmg.co.uk.

Details about how to publish your data can be found on 188体育.

Bus open data regulations

The were made in July 2020 and set out the statutory deadlines for bus operators to legally publish their data.

Date	Event
31 December 2020	Obligation to provide bus timetable data to the Bus Open Data Service.
7 January 2021	Obligation to provide vehicle location and basic fares and tickets data to the Bus Open Data Service.
7 January 2023	Obligation to provide complex fares and ticket data to the Bus Open Data Service.

Basic fares and tickets refers to the most common ticket types, such as single, return, and weekly passes.

Complex fares and tickets refers to more complicated ticket structures such as multi-operator passes. A full list of what is included in the definitions can be found on the (PDF 4MB).

Data standards

Our data standards define how we carry out data processing and business activities. They ensure that BODS adopts a consistent, rule-based approach to data management and that our activities comply with 2017 Bus Services Act. BODS data standards are to support the bus industry to exchange information between publishers and consumers in a consistent manner, understood by all.

Bus timetable and Automatic Vehicle Locations (AVL) standards

Data publishers and technology suppliers must use for:

• bus timetable data the (PDF 2.18MB).
• AVL data the SIRI-VM data schema to supply real time location of the operating vehicle

Fares and ticketing:

Data publishers and technology suppliers must use the when generating fares and ticketing exchange information for this service.

Keep in touch

Follow us on Twitter

We鈥檙e always pleased to hear stories from operators and local authorities across the country about how you鈥檙e offering high-quality digital passenger information. Share your stories using the hashtag #BusOpenData.

If you need support in publishing or consuming data please contact us at bodshelpdesk@kpmg.co.uk.

Sign up for our mailing list by emailing us at busopendata@dft.gov.uk.