Passengers wait ages for new ways to help them catch their bus on time - then two come along at once.
Budding computer experts, Josh Pickett, 15, and Ben Webb, 19, decided bus timetables weren’t up to scratch. So they created two handy new interactive features which can be viewed at any bus stop in the region on a mobile smartphone.
Users can see the bus times at any bus stop around Greater Manchester with one, and the other allows them to look at a map to see how close the next bus is to their stop.
Josh and Ben used timetable information which was made public by transport bosses at Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive last month as part of a move to grant greater public access to data.
And within a week the teenagers had created the two useful tools for bus passengers, which are arguably better than anything on offer from the transport body, which has an annual budget of £259m.
Click here to see the timetable app in action
Click here to see the bus map app in action
The pair are still fine-tuning the timetable applications – or ‘apps’ – but have made the basic version available for free to bus passengers.
And while the bus apps will not make their fortunes, both developers are hopeful that they will eventually be able to make a career out of their hobby, once they have completed their studies.
Josh, of Reddish, is a pupil at St Thomas More School in Denton, said: "We haven’t done this to make any money out of it, it was just to show what could be done.
"This solves a genuine problem that people have – wanting to know when the next bus is coming."
Ben, of Edale Avenue, Audenshaw, a former pupil at Audenshaw School, is studying natural sciences at Cambridge University, and also works on computers in his spare time.
He added: "We are going to polish it up a bit but this should be really useful for bus passengers."
Ben said he had already had rave reviews of the app from one industry figure – his dad Paul, 50, who is a bus training instructor. Josh and Ben teamed up when they met at an event run by Young Rewired State, which invites developers to work on data projects.
GMPTE made the bus timetable information available to developers after lobbying by Open Data Manchester, which campaigns for public bodies to release data.
Julian Tait, of Future Everything, which backs the Open Data Manchester group, said: "I’m very impressed, they have taken a lot of data and presented it in a way that is interesting to look at and valuable, in just a few days."
GMPTE said: "We got involved with this project following an approach from Future Everything and Manchester Innovation Centre and were keen to support the initiative and the innovations it will drive."
MEN comment: Teen duo map a route for success
Click here to see the timetable app in action
Click here to see the bus map app in action
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Great work boys, I've added it to my Favourites folder, (On my PC, I don't have a fancy phone)
Really useful.
I presume the times are completely randon and not based on figures issued by the bus companies - just to be more accurate?!
Smart work lads......but can you get the First Bus No 89 to arrive on time, each time in Moston?
The bus map in the second picture can be seen at http://dev.dfey.org/busmap/ - NB. it only shows 50 buses at a time, so you will have to zoom in to see all buses for a certain area.
It was only two days ago how a team from a BBC team reported how easy it is to hi-jack smart-phones using such applications to steal your personal details, referring the security vulnerability of using such applications, similar to personal computers of 1999.
It wasn't that long ago many bus shelters were fitted with l.e.d. displays - were these just for show or an excuse to keep hiking fairs?
Good idea though!
[quote name=Moston Blue]Smart work lads......but can you get the First Bus No 89 to arrive on time, each time in Moston?[/quote] Funny you should say that, we're actually working on an app for that now, although at the moment its just a screen full of pigs flying...
excellent work, i hope you get some kind of reward from the local bus companies for your hard work.
Cool idea!
Will this work on my Commodore 64?
[quote name=Mr Manchester]Will this work on my Commodore 64?[/quote]
Yes! You just need to install a web browser and connect it up to the internet - http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/classic-tech/?p=182
In all seriousness, all the map won't (blame google), the bus times webapp will run on anything with a browser and internet access. The "mobile" part is just that its been themed to look best on those devices.
GMPTE could improve the sms txt method a little when using their live bus timetable on the bus stops. Many a time when using the 77 I texted for the next bus. Only to get a reply saying no time.
Another_Anon: "It was only two days ago how a team from a BBC team reported how easy it is to hi-jack smart-phones using such applications to steal your personal details, referring the security vulnerability of using such applications"
The issue they highlighted related to applications which are installed on the phone and which, if you give them permission, are able to access your phonebook, make calls, etc.
Although this is described as an App, it isn't installed on the phone. It is a webpage, so the potential risks are only the ones you would have when visiting any website.
The bus companies have promised a digital tracking system for years, they even went to the trouble of installing digital screens at bus stops..... it never happened.
This is great work and it's needed for an integrated public transport system.
Get it on the app store, earn revenue from local advertisers and watch the money come in.
It would be useful if, on the bus location map, you could identify the bus number and direction of travel, other than that, I'm sure it will be a massive hit and could provide a decent revenue.
Well done.
Without taking any credit away from these two lads, the MEN slant on the story is truly dispicable. - specifically the reference to a "£259 million budget". The map is certainly an innovative development, as not only can you see where your bus is, but you can watch its progress (or lack of). Monitoring by regular users will help people understand where their bus gets delayed, and the might be able to ask questions of the Operator, local council or highways authority, as to why that is the case.
The timetable information is NOT real-time, it is purely the scheduled timetable taken directly from GMPTE, and is presumably identical to that posted at about two-thirds of bus stops in the county. I suppose one advantage is, that these "apps" are not susceptible to vandalism. Notable that whilst GMPTE (and by inferrence all bus Operators in GM) have waived Copyright to allow this Data to be "Open", Transport for London have refused a similar request. Strange the MEN hasn't credited the industry locally to be the first in the UK to do so.
Far, far worse though, is the suggestion that this is "arguably better" than GMPTE can produce "with a budget of £259 million". In fact, the majority of that £259 million goes on building and maintaining bus stations; subsidising local rail services and off-peak fares; subsidising school buses and socially (and economically for the users) necessary bus services and subsidising concessionary fares. A tiny, tiny amount goes on providing bus timetables of various types. I don't know the exact figure, but it will be in the hundreds of thousands, not the hundreds of millions as inferred here. Still, its more half-truths that the Chancellor can latch on to!
The GMPTE should be commended for the release of the data, it is not easy to do - If it was every PTE would be doing it. What it does show is that by giving people the opportunity to play around with the information, they can come up with interesting stuff that is useful and allows people to make informed decisions.
It would be good to see what else people come up with.
It's great work by two lads; but really you two should have "sold" the app and made some money.
Either I'm misinterpreting, or the app's timetable for route 330 (Ashton-Hyde-Stockport - http://dev.dfey.org/bustimes/search.php?search=330&submit=Go) bears little or no relation to that on GMPTE's website (http://www.gmpte.com/upload/routemaps/330_27459.pdf). Is this deliberate, and which one is wrong? Unless there's some confidence in the times being correct, something like this is giving people false hope.
I am not going to pick holes in what is an excellent effort from Josh and Ben. I particularly like the concept of plotting the scheduled times, updated regularly, of the buses on a map though the results in my local part of time seemed not entirely accurate. That is more to do with the source data than the App.
Text traveline to 84268 and you will get a link to the NextBuses smartphone service wnich plots the location of every bus stop in the country and gives details of the next buses leaving every stop. You can search for your location using names or post codes amongst other things. Its free and works on all types of smartphone.
There are also similar apps (but with better maps) at the Iphone store and the Android market - but they are not free and only work on the Iphone and google phones.
GMPTE and in fact most transport authorities and the bus operators can and do make available the source data so that anyone can develop these type of apps, and this data is updated weekly. This data also includes real time data where local buses are equipped with tracking devices.
If Josh or Ben need a better source of data to improve their app even further they should contact traveline at their website traveline.org.uk and see what else they might do.
Good luck fellas!
Martyn Lewis