Real Time Passenger Information

Recently I've been contacted by a local resident who had a very good question on the Real Time Bus Information signs like the ones pictured that have been cropping up across the city. The question was related to the information being displayed be the signs - particularly the sign pictured on the right which is the one at the Northern end of Northfield Avenue (Armitage Way).

I'm in the process of providing a written response to the resident but I thought the information I've been able to find out might be useful for other people as well.

Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) is a project begin run by the County Council (as opposed to Stagecoach) it's based around monitoring hardware being installed in Buses, training for drivers (so they can log into the system and configure their bus service), signs similar to the ones pictured setup across the City, and a wireless network to allow the signs to be updated as the buses progress around their route.

The basic premise is that the system allows the exact location of buses to be tracked minute by minute and that information communicated to specially-equipped bus stops along the route so that passengers know when to expect the bus.

Of course there will be times when the signal between the bus and bus stops doesn't get through - in this case the bus stop will display timetable information (rather than real-time). You can tell what sort of information you're getting by looking at the display; if the display is saying "Xmin" then you're getting real-time bus information. If, on the other hand, you're seeing a time (i.e 16:49, 16:55, etc in the picture) then what you're seeing is timetable information.

There are five reasons why a bus stop may not be displaying real-time information:

1. A non-fitted bus is used on an RT route;
2. The driver has not logged onto the system properly;
3. Due to adverse weather conditions, the displays or the buses may not be able to pick up or send radio signals;
4. The display may have not received a recent update;
5. The kit on the bus is malfunctioning.

Issue 1 shouldn't be a problem on either Citi 1 or Citi 4 routes; all buses are fitted with the necessary hardware. Occasionally other buses need to be used and these don't always have the hardware installed (for example Citi 2 and 3 routes are on the plan to be upgraded in 2010) but this is an exception.

Issue 2 is being addressed by Stagecoach through driver training. Issue 3 has no solution - well, none within the control of the County anyway! The County is actively addressing Issue 4 with more physical inspections and the use of automated monitoring software. Issue 5 is usually found and reported by the driver.

As I'm sure you can appreciate it's very difficult for people who are looking at Timetable rather than Real-time information to work out which issue is actually preventing the system from working. As a general rule though you can tell if it is an Operator error if there is some Real Time information being displayed. If everything is timetabled, then it is most likely a technical fault.

In the event of you seeing a faulty bus stop if possible you should report it to the County. You can do this online through the 'Have your say' section on the County Councils' website or you can call the Contact centre on 0345 045 5200 - this will direct you to the Passenger Transport or Traffic Management team who should both be able to help.

The good news, for people who plan their journey in advance, is that you don't need to be standing at a bus stop in order to access Real Time information. You can access a really-quite-impressive map by clicking here, the information on the County Council website is available here, and if you happen to want to view this on your mobile phone there is a special website here.

If you have any questions leave a comment or you can contact one of the team.