BusTimes.org - general discussion

[karl724223]

yea defo as many drivers use bustimes to track their buses, only thought that as some hadnt tracked in over a year but nice to know they do care

Loads of drivers use bustimes to see what bus they have got and where it is  now easier now they have added running boards on it

[Coventrybususer95]

E023 seems to have gone on a trip to Luton 😂

[jasmine]

Diamond 32261 and 30120 shows up on NXWM's vehicle map

[Tony]

Diamond 32261 and 30120 shows up on NXWM's vehicle map

Good. 31 route now shows all buses on it

[jasmine]

Good. 31 route now shows all buses on it

Oh is it some test to make routes that are run by multiple operators show on the same map? e.g 16/16A (kind of), 50 (kind of), 40, etc.

[jasmine]

Oh is it some test to make routes that are run by multiple operators show on the same map? e.g 16/16A (kind of), 50 (kind of), 40, etc.

It also shows similar routes on top of eachother, namely 4/4H/4M, 23/24, 82/87, 45/47, 97/97A, X3/X4/X5, 65/67, 94/95, 51/X51, 11A/11C, 8A/8C, 934/935/936/937/937A, 12/12A, 13/13A, 8/X8, 61/63, 20/20A, 34/37/39, etc

[Stu]

Oh is it some test to make routes that are run by multiple operators show on the same map? e.g 16/16A (kind of), 50 (kind of), 40, etc.

It is more useful for passengers. I noticed the other day when looking at the timetable for the 3 (West Brom to Merry Hill), that it also shows the evening journeys that are run by Carolean.

Anyone just looking at the NX timetable might think there's no service in the evening, but now they know.

[jasmine]

It is more useful for passengers. I noticed the other day when looking at the timetable for the 3 (West Brom to Merry Hill), that it also shows the evening journeys that are run by Carolean.

Anyone just looking at the NX timetable might think there's no service in the evening, but now they know.

It's absolutely so helpful, take it from me, someone who uses 16/16A (although it's not combined like the others) if it was, there'd be an instant improvement in user experience for me

[MasterPlan]

I agree with what others have said, this is a very useful addition. I can check on X21 and X22 at the same time now.

[Tony]

I agree with what others have said, this is a very useful addition. I can check on X21 and X22 at the same time now.

You've been able to do that for ages

[MasterPlan]

You've been able to do that for ages

You could look at the combined timetable, yes. But I was referring to the map view which shows where the buses are tracking. Its only been recently where it's included the checkbox to show X22 buses as well.

[IMarkeh]

Good. 31 route now shows all buses on it

It changed it about a week ago. Only issue is that there will be endless issues with the timetable because Diamond are quite poor at maintaining their open data.



Just to give some context. Some services already have options to combine timetables and this is done where multiple services are on the same service registration (traffic commissioner registration or West Midlands Combined Authority registration).
The site owner, Jclgoodwin (or JG as he is commonly known to regular users), enhanced the offering so that as well as timetables, these options for combining routes now extend to the map and tracking.

On top of that, with some suggestions from users, some routes were merged fully. This was only done though in a few instances where there is ticket acceptance (ie the Diamond/NXWM 31 as it's a partnership or Carolean/NXWM 3 because there is basically no returns or individual operator tickets bar the very limited National Express out of area day ticket). It was also only done where merging the data didn't/doesn't cause a major readability issue for passengers and/or it is easy for passengers on exclusive/unique parts of each route route to still see their times. These were conditions because it was agreed on the discord a while back that in general people deemed it confusing to merge a service if there isn't ticket acceptance and as 'normal users' are the priority, the timetables need to be as simple as possible. Especially when merging Diamond routes as Diamond often have the wrong stops or have other data issues which prevent the timetables working properly.

A number of NXWM routes got merged as well as a few Diamond services (and Carolean 3 got merged with NXWM 3). Diamond routes may get merged more as/when their data quality improves as well as Network West Midlands sort out their godawful entries in the bus stop database (also known as NAPTAN).

[Stu]

On top of that, with some suggestions from users, some routes were merged fully. This was only done though in a few instances where there is ticket acceptance (ie the Diamond/NXWM 31 as it's a partnership or Carolean/NXWM 3 because there is basically no returns or individual operator tickets bar the very limited National Express out of area day ticket). It was also only done where merging the data didn't/doesn't cause a major readability issue for passengers and/or it is easy for passengers on exclusive/unique parts of each route route to still see their times. These were conditions because it was agreed on the discord a while back that in general people deemed it confusing to merge a service if there isn't ticket acceptance and as 'normal users' are the priority, the timetables need to be as simple as possible. Especially when merging Diamond routes as Diamond often have the wrong stops or have other data issues which prevent the timetables working properly.

There is ticket acceptance on all bus services within the West Midlands, has been since June 2023.