please empty your brain below
Why wait indeed! Very useful, matching what a number of other cities have. Are they using Open Street Map rather than the ubiquitous Google?

Forder | 03.09.11 - 9:13 a.m. | #

The map tiles come from cloudmade.com which indicates that it uses OpenStreetMap data, so, yes.

Larry Lard | 03.09.11 - 9:25 a.m. | #

dg, thanks yet again. Particular reason for me to be grateful: the Countdown display at the stop outside [my local busy] tube station was removed 18 months ago when they rebuilt the shelter, and it won't be replaced until the new iBus display system is rolled out starting next year. It's a busy stop so now being able to tell whether it's worth waiting or if I should walk instead is a timesaver.

Gordon | 03.09.11 - 9:27 a.m. | #

We've had this in Edinburgh for a few years now, and while it's not 100% reliable, it's pretty damn good.

There's also a phone app that let's you find the code of nearby bus stops and thus the next buses due that makes knowing exactly when to leave the pub much, much easier.

Alan | 03.09.11 - 9:29 a.m. | #

There's a better mobile version at m.countdown.Tfl.gov.uk - complete with location detection which brings up your closest stops

MarcB | 03.09.11 - 9:46 a.m. | #

Just the other day I was wondering what had happened to the new countdown system. Glad to see they're using open street map, though surprised as TFL's own maps aren't that bad... Nice to see some of my contributions on there!

Ed | 03.09.11 - 10:01 a.m. | #

Fantastic, I've been waiting for this! I think it's a real game-changer for buses.

SELondoner | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 10:02 a.m. | #

"Sorry no bus information is available for this stop. Please consult the bus timetable or visit tfl.gov.uk".

For a bus stop that I've used a fair few number of times within Zone 6 ...

geofftech | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 10:18 a.m. | #

Fine, but as with many TfL services, when you really need the information is when you're standing at the stop, not when you're sitting at your dsesk in front of a computer. Countdown was supposed to be installed at ALL stops by 2004 - now the plan is to instal it only at the busiest stops, (not those with the least frequent services, where it is most needed) and not until next year at the earliest. And now travel enquiries and complaints is on a rip-off 0845 number, they are profiting from their own unreliability.
Douglas Adams' Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, whose complaints department was the only part to make a profit, was supposed to be satire. Too many organisations seem to have taken it as a viable business model.

Timbo | 03.09.11 - 10:30 a.m. | #

Ok, a fairer comment this time. I can't see this being THAT useful on bus stops where the service is frequent. e.g To go to my local town centre, there are three bus routes from my local stop, and I never have to wait more than 5 minutes before one of them comes along.

Where it IS damn useful, is the 3 buses per hour route (every 20 minutes) local service around the corner, which saves me a walk to a tube station on a different line. That's handy, timing it so that i leave when it's at 3 to 4 minutes. There again, aren't we all supposed to be much more healthy these days and walk to places rather than do short hops on buses all the time?

Whatever, it's rather nifty isn't it? And it makes me want an App for my mobile device, yes.

geofftech | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 10:30 a.m. | #

Very useful looking. Kind of surprised it's taken London this long to get this!

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 11:09 a.m. | #

This is totally fabulous.
Cxx

Chris | 03.09.11 - 11:45 a.m. | #

@Geofftech - I think I'll find this very handy for a bus route which is pretty regular, namely the 91.

The problem is that even in periods when there is a decent frequency on the route, it gets lots of bunching of the service (not helped by being a long route that hits some of central London's congested hot spots). So you get 20 minute gaps suddenly appearing in the service which can catch you out - until this website came along which means I'll know if I need to leave extra early to catch the bus to a meeting or train station in future.

Mark Pack | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 12:13 p.m. | #

We have those signs on bus stops 2 years now here in Corfu, Greece - they are indeed very helpful

John T. from Corfu, Greece | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 12:56 p.m. | #

This info has already been available via an app on Android - 'catch that bus' - for some time, but good that TfL have made it available and accessible to all.

Ben S. | 03.09.11 - 1:27 p.m. | #

My public transport game has been changed

Another Andrew | 03.09.11 - 1:42 p.m. | #

If you have an iPhone, you can use the NextBuses app to get this information.

Nonetheless, a web-based interface for TfL's bus departures is long overdue: for a long time, I've thought about how useful it would be to be able to look up when the next buses are from the bus stops near work on my laptop.

Andrewh | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 1:45 p.m. | #

This is nothing short of bloody fantastic.

When data is released, with any luck Matthew Somerville'll promptly produce a "Live Bus Map" to go with the tube one...

swirlythingy | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 2:02 p.m. | #

Andrewh: that app says it doesn't support London yet, on it's app store description...

Ed | 03.09.11 - 2:21 p.m. | #

It would be even more helpful if TfL time had any relationship at all to real time...London bus stops - the only place in the workd where a minute is longer than 60 seconds...

Marina | 03.09.11 - 3:19 p.m. | #

@ Marina - that's the real question, isn't it - are the timings based on where the bus actually is, or where it should be according to the timetable? From my experience of the central London Countdown indicators, it seems more likely to be the latter.
Anyone know whether the buses are being tracked in real time?

Ben | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 3:42 p.m. | #

@ Andrewh - Nextbuses only provides the timetabled time. I double checked it last night to see if it was using the live feed and it wasn't. The Countdown test site is taking real time data from the I-Bus system and putting it on a publicly accessible format.

I dare say that Nextbuses will migrate to real time info at some point but obviously not to a test site.

PC | 03.09.11 - 3:45 p.m. | #

@Ben,

Looks to me that it's realtime - untimetabled gaps in the services, and untimetabled bunching are both evident.

Dominic | 03.09.11 - 3:51 p.m. | #

@ Ben - it is using the GPS location data for each bus which the I-Bus system uses to trigger the on bus displays and announcements. There is also a depot / garage system that uses the same data which route controllers use to manage their routes.

I have seen I-Bus in use at West Ham garage and the controller can see exactly where every bus is on a route and the extent to which they are late or early against timetable or if there is a divergence from the advertised headway. The same late / early / headway info is available to drivers on their in cab unit so they know how they're doing against the timetable.

Countdown takes the I-Bus real time info and converts it into suitable info for the public to use either via the web, via text message or more traditionally via the at stop signs.

PC | 03.09.11 - 4:00 p.m. | #

I've noticed these in bus shelters, but never online before. Great!

Rory | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 4:16 p.m. | #

The controllers do sometimes use iBus's data to change services - I was on a 219 bus recently that was cut short mid-route after the controller got in touch with the driver (being sat near the driver I heard the conversation). The bus was late due to bad traffic.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 03.09.11 - 4:17 p.m. | #

Over the past month or so I've noticed that more and more buses have been "slow" buses .. where the bus is early so the driver stops for ages and drives like he's out of fuel. It may be early, but when two buses show up at the same time how can you tell which one is going to go faster? Not necessarily the same route number.

George | 03.09.11 - 5:00 p.m. | #

Oooooh! I like it!
Not that the 305, is supported yet but a fantastic feature just the same

CornishCockney | 03.09.11 - 7:24 p.m. | #

Anyone tried to work out what the stop used for the example Countdown display on the front page is? ;)

Daniel | 04.09.11 - 1:48 a.m. | #

PS: Residents of Slough are lucky as the stops seem to be on the map (despite being out of London) (I don't know if the service that runs to Slough shows up though)

...despite stops in Watford, Borehamwood and Potters Bar not showing up, even though the iBus announces them fine (except for one missing one in Potters Bar)...

Daniel | 04.09.11 - 1:53 a.m. | #

Bugger! I thought the bus + tube may be quicker than the train today but Countdown tells me if I am not on the 41 bus in 2 minutes, it's 22 minutes until the next one.
Thanks DG!

| 04.09.11 - 9:14 a.m. | #

Does anyone know if the legacy countdown displays from the old (flaky) system have finally been updated to work with the accurate data?

It seems a bit bonkers if I can get better data on my phone than the official displays.

Dan | 04.09.11 - 10:32 a.m. | #

Note the abuse of the English language on the screenshot - "due" is used, where "expected" or "imminent" is meant.
"Due" means when the timetable says it should arrive.

Timbo | 04.09.11 - 2:09 p.m. | #

hey DG,

you have a wee.. mention on the BBC... makes up the the poor weather eh ?

as the the live deps - yeah a cool idea but not sure how well it'll go down in the outer areas.

.."why wait" indeed ?

V | 04.09.11 - 2:25 p.m. | #

The 305 appeared to be supported when I tried the site. (I live by Holyrood Gardens so have an interest...)

Helen Vecht | 04.09.11 - 6:04 p.m. | #

Having just checked one of the oldstyle displays I can confirm they do not use the new data!
Mad!

Dan | 04.09.11 - 6:16 p.m. | #

There is only one set of data used by the old and new displays.

Anonymous | 04.09.11 - 7:53 p.m. | #

Used this today to catch the 232 along the North Circular, perfectly. Althought there was bad traffic, so "7 minutes", really became 10, but not the buses or the feeds fault. It meant that I left perfectly timed to get it, and not stand in the rain for ten extra minutes. Win!

geofftech | Homepage | 04.09.11 - 10:13 p.m. | #

There are some Outer London stops available. There are at least two stops in Brentwood on the 498 that are listed and had the correct information for the bus I was driving!

Rob | 04.09.11 - 11:10 p.m. | #

Anonymous you are wrong! Why post misinformation anonymously?!

Dan | 05.09.11 - 12:24 a.m. | #

To qualify: Being a bit geeky and being in Hackney, where countdown displays are still plentiful, I had plenty of opportunities to check the old style displays. In all cases the displays used incomplete and inaccurate data which differed from the online countdown. The online data was near to spot on.

They are definitely plugged into different databases.

Dan | 05.09.11 - 12:47 a.m. | #

That mention on the BBC that V spotted: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14779558

martin | 05.09.11 - 7:46 a.m. | #

Does anyone know if the black-on-yellow number seen at the top of bus stops is the same as the 5 digit number used in this app?

Gavin Baxter | 05.09.11 - 8:09 a.m. | #

Wonderful, thanks, as ever, for linking.

NiC | Homepage | 05.09.11 - 8:25 p.m. | #

Thanks about this.

I just want to get it off my chest that the sheer frustration encountered for many many years after the initial role out - and then nothing (from my perspective in SW London), that they didn't help MY journeys (from popular bus stops and all that).

Why - because there was one, completely uselessly situated at the terminus for the R156 on Alexandra Road (B235) at its junction with Wimbledon Hill Road (for access to the station and town centre). Yes, I know that this information is useful for people waiting for friends (and without mobiles!), etc. - what a waste.

I have absolutely no idea why this stop was included other than it was part of the considerable transport hub at this location. I did ask for it to be moved - to my stop (as one suggestion - of course!) - but the request fell on deaf years...

Now the R493 has been rerouted (good one this, to shorten the journey to St George's, etc.) then there is some use for it but this is a low frequency meandering route that is mainly provided to fill in the gaps in the 400m provision of service and there remains many many more deserving stops.

Rant over.


Ken | 05.09.11 - 9:45 p.m. | #

Just planning my post-work journey from Tower Hill to Southwark and this post from the weekend came to mind. Interesting to see that the RV1 is attempting to give Thames Clippers a run for their money:

http://countdown.tfl.gov.uk/#|searchTerm=RV1

I've got my goggles in my bag just in case.

Jim | Homepage | 07.09.11 - 3:55 p.m. | #

For the iPhoners (aka JesusPhoners) out there, I made an iPhone app based on this - www.buschecker.com

Carlos | 25.09.11 - 5:32 p.m. | #











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