London buses get real-time tracking onboard

Transport for London (TfL) will begin installing a new £120m communications and satellite tracking system next spring following successful trials on five buses earlier this year.

More than 8,000 buses will be fitted with new radios, on-board computer with GPRS and wireless networking capability, plus new display signs and voice announcements.

The computer will report the bus location to a central system every 30 seconds. Accurate predictions will then be sent to countdown signs at stops.

The move comes after TfL held an eight-week trial of a real-time system, including voice announcements and visual displays.

A TfL spokeswoman says it is fine-tuning the level and detail of information provided to passengers, ahead of the full rollout of the iBus programme.

‘The measures will enable us to better manage the bus service and provide more up-to-date information,’ she said.

iBus is superior to the existing tag and beacon system, which records the location of a bus as it passes roadside beacons, and which can be inaccurate if the vehicle is held up between stops.

‘Garage managers will now be able to see problems, manage congestion and if there is an incident, contact drivers to divert them,’ said the spokeswoman.

‘It will also give passengers information on when the bus is due at the next stop and visitor information about each destination. Ultimately, real-time information can be fed into the web site so people can access information online.’

The project, one of the largest of its kind in the world, will be rolled out on a route by route basis by 2009.

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Further reading

Upgraded IT goes on the buses

Real-time system trial boards London buses

Bus data analysis is just the ticket