please empty your brain below
Random codes do reduce the possibility of mistakes being made. Incremental numbers for each stop could well mean a slight slip of the fingers giving a plausible result. You'd probably query the result uf you're in London Bridge and it gave Hounslow, but less likely if you got Borough High Street.

Brendan | 16.11.15 - 7:24 a.m. | #

...but generally very similar adjacent numbers are used. Only 27 of the one thousand 77XXX codes are omitted, for example.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 16.11.15 - 7:28 a.m. | #

I suspect it is also to avoid 'fat finger' syndrome re the keypad, not only for the passenger, but also for the staff putting up the signs.

The SMS code thing shows just how fast things move, having said that it could be a handy backup, but I wonder if it turned out not to be the money spinner that TfL hoped it would at the planning stage.

| 16.11.15 - 7:58 a.m. | #

Yes, very similar numbers are used, but as you note, adjacent stops tend not to have similar numbers.

So it does reduce the possibility of doing a wrong digit and getting the result for the stop round the corner, then not realising and missing the bus.

| 16.11.15 - 8:25 a.m. | #

SMS is a closed book to me, but I do know that there's no High Street in Walworth; the East Street stop is in Walworth Road.

dg writes: sorry - fixed now - thanks.

3078260061 | 16.11.15 - 9:39 a.m. | #

This may also be an example of trying to combat the German Tank problem (search wikipedia for it), though if that were truly the case, I'd expect the numbers to be a little more evenly distributed. And I'm not sure what the point would be...

| 16.11.15 - 9:40 a.m. | #

Now and again I like being able to send a text for "up-to-date" info on bus arrivals at any given bus stop. Not everyone has a smartphone you know! :) I also think it may prove useful in a emergency...if somewhere where never been it a good "locator" if can't see any street name signs or have trouble reading?

OnTheBus | 16.11.15 - 10:11 a.m. | #

The cost is 12p plus the charge to send a short code text. With Three PAYG a text to an ordinary 11-digit number costs just 2p, but a short code text costs five times as much.

So if your bus is late, it costs 22p to find out (11 times as much as an ordinary text). Late buses are profitable :-(

Gerry | 16.11.15 - 12:34 p.m. | #

They're not just SMS codes, they're also used on the online version. Use it in the countdown and you'll get all the buses due at the stop, the same info as if you were texting. So it's more they're stop ID codes, not SMS

Rachel | 16.11.15 - 12:40 p.m. | #

Yes, as Rachel says, they're the general identifier codes for the stop, and work online too.

So instead of sending an SMS with the number and paying 12p for the privilege, I tend to google 'London bus 58692' - the first hit will generally be the online countdown page for that stop.

SamB | Homepage | 16.11.15 - 1:29 p.m. | #

I am not aware of any underlying logic in the initial allocation of stop codes. It's worth saying that bus stops have several different codes for different purposes and used in national stop identification systems plus TfL's own systems for demand tracking, asset IDs etc.

The only thing I've spotted is that TfL have used the 9xxxx and 91xxx series when adding brand new stops. The Tottenham Hale gyratory and bus station has a lot of new stops and they're all in the 91xxx series. In fact the stops at T Hale Bus Station are sequentially numbered. That 24 stop at Victoria is certainly temporary because of the highway restrictions in Victoria. The 24 used to stop round in Victoria St and then next stop in Wilton Rd. I imagine that will revert whenever TfL restore the highway capacity after the tube station works complete.

I like the five digit codes and can remember several for stops I use regularly. Far faster than going through multiple levels of data entry to get to the same result. Annoyingly TfL don't bother to display them prominently on the "whizzo" TfL website when you bring up a stop page. I asked on the TfL Digital Blog whether, when the old style Countdown webpage is scrapped, the codes would be shown on the TfL stop web pages. I think they thought I was mad. Why wouldn't you press your smartphone screen umpteen times rather than tapping in a number?

Having double checked the TfL stop pages then depending on how you bring up a stop then sometimes the code is displayed but near the bottom of the page alongside the number for text messages. Put it at the top underneath the stop name!!

Therefore I am not looking forward to the Countdown page vanishing because it DOES show the stop codes. Rachel is quite right that the stop code is a key bit of info and TfL and nearly all apps recognise these numbers. I think a lot of people don't understand that they can use the code numbers and instead fumble about going through however their app has structured and presented the route and stop info. I've lost count of the times I've seen people looking at the route number, the stop name or the letter code (on the top of the stop) as some sort of prompt to help them find departure info whereas the code number is so easy to use.

PC | 16.11.15 - 1:45 p.m. | #

Right, so if your dumb phone can access the web there is no need for a text

http://m.countdown.tfl.gov.uk/arrivals/47001

and once you have bookmarked one, just put the number in the search box

I don't have a smartphone but I do have a old Kindle Keyboard that can browse the web over 3G - Amazon pays.

For non-TfL live bus info you need

http://nextbuses.mobi/WebView/BusStopSearch/BusStopSearchResults/suragdmj?currentPage=0

Which has a completely different set of bus stop ids.

Mike D | 16.11.15 - 4:39 p.m. | #

East Street is where the market scenes in "Only Fools..." were filmed. I'd somehow like to think that was the reasoning, but it seems unlikely.

Noticed a few stops with NFC for arrivals data now. That was quite convenient the one time it worked.

Less convenient than Countdown, obviously, but they seem to be actively removing that from stops (e.g. Piccadilly), which is annoying and stupid.

Simon | 16.11.15 - 5:32 p.m. | #

According to TfL's database, bus stops have an SMS code and a Bus Stop Number. Often they're the same (East Street is Bus Stop Number 47001, as well as this being the SMS code). But frequently they're very different (the bus stop at Victoria Station is BP5380, not 98505, and is physically labelled as such).

diamond geezer | Homepage | 16.11.15 - 5:36 p.m. | #

Never mind the SMS charges, SOMEBODY is making an absolute fortune selling those blue plastic bags. We don't generally see them in Nottingham but, you're right, they're ubiquitous in London.

Dave Skinner | 16.11.15 - 6:05 p.m. | #

The actual number used by TfL internally to identify a bus stop is not the SMS code - but the bus stop number eg BP507 - this can be found on a tiny white label under the bus stop flag or in the bottom right hand corner of all timetables placed in the frame on the pole - the two should always match! As pointed out the list of these numbers is on the Foi request.

Nicks | 16.11.15 - 6:21 p.m. | #

Talking of numbers, anyone know the highest and lowest Boris Bike numbers? They seem to go from 10,000 to 36,000, with a gap between 26,000 and 30,000. Something to do when I've spotted all the buses, being one of the MWLBs on the quiet

JD | 17.11.15 - 12:05 a.m. | #

I'm mean enough to do without a data plan and rely on free wifi, so I do use the SMS system from time to time. That's how I caught them out on one stop mis-labelled at Canary Wharf. I thought it was odd that the system was telling me about buses going to Tooting.

Autolycus | Homepage | 17.11.15 - 8:49 a.m. | #

The vintage red London are the sign of glory of the early London. And its real fun to travel in these buses.

Ava Jacobs | Homepage | 17.11.15 - 5:37 p.m. | #

How us at at TFL identify bus stops is actually by the number on the underside of the flag!

Matt | 17.11.15 - 11:14 p.m. | #

...in which case the lowest numbered TfL bus stop is outside Edgware Road Station, which is numbered 13.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 18.11.15 - 7:03 a.m. | #











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