(no subject)

[jack]

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/bus_timetables/real+time+bus+departure+information.htm

Hey, they're bringing in real time "when the bus is expected" displays. I wonder if it'll work? I wonder if it'll be available online? (That's what would be most useful to me, be at home and see if "OMG there's a 50min wait. I'm walking" or "Hey, 5 min, best get out there" rather than the assumption that busing is an inherent choice independent of speed :))

In other news, I totally forgot to use my feminism tag on the last post :)

Comments

[naath.livejournal.com]

They have that in Chelmsford but only in the bits where there is bus every 5 mins... it works quite well.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, I envy chelmsford!

[mair_in_grenderich]

they have those things in Edinburgh - they're quite handy, especially latish in the evening.

it's a 1B compsci project to do the online bus expected thing - at least, it was when I was there...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I know it's possible, I'm glad it's getting here.

it's a 1B compsci project to do the online bus expected thing - at least, it was when I was there...

How does that work? Do you have to find a council implementing it or waht?

[mair_in_grenderich]

you were supposed to be able to put units on certain buses to send you a signal/location.

The idea is to create a system which can (eg) email you five minutes before the bus gets to Madingley Road so you can start walking up from the WGB.

In practice in my year they weren't allowed to put the things on the buses after all so they just wrote a simulation.

[sillytrippy.livejournal.com]

I think they gave up after that, it wasn't on in my year.

[chess]

It was a possible Part II project this year to actually work on the real system that they're putting up.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

You could have making a traffic simulation be another project, with (perhaps pre-defined, and for added realism, bizarre and broken) interfaces between them for getting information out of the busses.

[yrieithydd.livejournal.com]

Cardiff have them too. I've not used the buses there much and I'm not sure how useful my mum finds them.

[caliston.livejournal.com]

Edinburgh does too, though only on some routes. That doesn't always help because you see the display says "33 Newcraighall 14 mins" but a number 30 might come past the same stop in two minutes.

Interesting that they've decided to use the Citi 1 and Citi 4 - the C1 is the most regular bus service so perhaps the least useful to have it in the daytime (in the evening being every 30 mins might be useful). It suffers from bunching but I'm not convinced that will help it if happens close to the stops (just show 'expected 15:30, 15:31, 15:32 etc). Should be motivation for drivers not to skip the Fulbourn loop though.

But it won't help what happened to me today... waited 25 mins past the due time in freezing temperatures for a bus which eventually turned up and I frantically waved at then Failed.To.Stop. Brrr. My car arrives tomorrow.

[yrieithydd.livejournal.com]

That's bad!

[senji.livejournal.com]

I don't think anything short of management action would pursuade drivers not to skip the Fulbourn loop – after all everyone knows they currently do it.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

It's especially funny if you're on your way to a job interview, or similar uncompromisable time.

Their stretegy was to tag team me; one drives past slowly, as if it will stop, I autiomatically run sideways, thinking it might, then the other blows past the stop as no-one's there. OK, that time they did stop.

[hmmm-tea.livejournal.com]

like what they've had in London for years?

[hmmm-tea.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it'll be available online?

Not heard of it online for buses, but for national rail enquries have it for trains, which is useful:

eg

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've heard of the train service. It's never actually been useful to me though.

I don't have especial hopes for the buses, but it wold make sense; the information is there, they do the text message thing, it couldn't be *that* hard to interface it to a web site.

Wait, *is* interface a trivalent word?

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha ha. When the bus is due: 10 minutes' time. When the bus is expected: wait an hour, if you feel yourself getting frostbite, start wandering into town.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

And then the driver will get lost because he lives in Sheffield and has never been to Cambridge in his life, and you'll have to direct him back to the route and all the way round it, so it'll take twice as long as we said it would anyway. (This has happened to me more than once!)

[hmmm-tea.livejournal.com]

Got on a rail replacement bus from Letchworth to Royston a few months ago, where the driver set off seemly knowing where he was going and proceded to get on to the A1 in the wrong direction (ie back to London...)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

At least you'd know. I don't know if it would reach half an hour into the future accurately though, ie. if estimates take rush hour into account.