Buses are integral to everyday life in England, with the sector responsible for creating over 100,000 jobs and around 4.32 billion trips per year. However, when annual bus statistics for England 2018/19 showed that passenger volumes had fallen by 11.9% over 10 years, it suggested that the experience needed an upgrade.
The main reason for this decline has been attributed to the consistency and the quality of trip information available across different operators. Without a consistent approach, passengers and third party developers would not be able to plan their travel, or to see options on the go.
To help, the UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) launched the Bus Open Data Service (BODS) platform. BODS is a ‘source of truth’ where bus operators can share consistent data about their timetables, fares, and bus location data. Third party product developers can draw on information from the platform to create or improve apps to provide an enhanced passenger experience.