Websites and apps that have a bus tracker that shows the reg number or fleet number of the vehicles.

[swt class 450]

I am trying to compile a list of all websites and apps with bus trackers that allow you to see the reg number or fleet number of the vehicle.

I have found the following so far:

• Blackpool Transport:
· [website] - https://www.blackpooltransport.com/routes
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blackpooltransport

• Ensignbus:
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gdcommunity.ensignbus

• Falcon Buses:
· [website] - https://www.falconbuses.co.uk/bus-tracker/
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bushub.falconbus

• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove:
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brightonhove.bus

• Go Ahead Carousel Buses:
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carousel.bus

• Go Ahead East Anglia:
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goeastanglia.bus

• Go Ahead Metrobus:
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.metrobus.bus

• Go Ahead North East:
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gonortheast.bus

• Go Ahead Oxford Buses:
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oxford.bus

• Go Ahead Plymouth Citybus:
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plymouth.bus

• London Buses (All TFL Operators):
· [website 1] - https://lvf.io
· [website 2] - http://beno.org.uk/lookup/m.html
· [website 3] - https://traintimes.org.uk/map/london-buses/#all-buses.json
· [app 1] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.probusdev.london.tfl.bustimes.journeyplanner
· [app 2] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.letstransit.londonbus
· [app 3] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.chiv.livelondonbuses

• Lothian Buses (including ECB and LCB services):
· [website 1] - https://tfeapp.com/live/
· [website 2] - https://lvf.io (type "mode LRT")
· [website 3] - https://visualedinburgh.co.uk
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lothianbuses.lothianbuses

• Marshalls Coaches:
· [website] - https://map.bigchangeapps.com/(S(02...live=1&mode=asset&liveCaption=ttl&noCluster=1

• Mullanys Coaches:
· [website] - http://www.mullanyscoaches.com/318.html

• Prentice Coaches:
· [desktop site] - http://www.prentice.info/tracking.html
· [mobile site] - http://mobile.prenticeofhaddington.info/#live-bus-tracker/1
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.conduit.app_ac13bee09ce9412fae909da3cc82efa7.app

• RATP Bournemouth Yellow Buses:
· [website] - https://www.yellowbuses.co.uk/routes
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.bybus.move

• Reading Buses:
· [website 1] - https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/explore
· [website 2] - https://lvf.io (type "mode RGB")
· [app 1] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.readingbuses
· [app 2] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.readingbuses.kennections
· [app 3] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.readingbuses.greenline

• Rotala Diamond North West:
· [website] - https://www.diamondbuses.com/north-west/bus-tracker/
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bushub.diamondBus

• Rotala Diamond Warwickshire & Worcestershire:
· [website] - https://www.diamondbuses.com/worcester-warwickshire/bus-tracker/
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bushub.diamondBus

• Rotala Diamond West Midlands:
· [website] - https://www.diamondbuses.com/west-midlands/bus-tracker/
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bushub.diamondBus

• Rotala Hallmark Bus:
· [website] - https://www.hallmarkbus.com/bus-tracker/
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bushub.hallmarkbus

• Rotala Hotel Hoppa:
· [website] - https://www.hotelhoppa.co.uk/bus-tracker/
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bushub.hotelhoppa

• Stewarts Coaches:
· [website] - https://stewartscoaches.com/tracking/

• Vision Bus:
· [website] - https://www.visionbus.co.uk/bus-tracker/
· [app] - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bushub.visionbus

• White Bus Services:
· [website] - https://www.whitebus.co.uk/bus-tracker

• Woods Coaches:
· [website] - https://www.woodscoachhire.co.uk/tracking/

Does anyone know of any other ones?

Additionally this website here - https://bustimes.org - will show the vehicle type for quite a few services (but not the reg number or fleet number). For example if you look at the live map for most Arriva routes in the Colchester and Southend areas it will say something like "Alexander Dennis Enviro200" or "Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC" or "Dennis Dart SLF Plaxton Pointer 2" or "Optare Versa" etc. Here are some examples of routes it will show this for:

• https://bustimes.org/services/1-southend-hadleigh-south-benfleet-thundersley-ray

• https://bustimes.org/services/2-horkesley-heath-mile-end-central-colchester-high

• https://bustimes.org/services/9-rayleigh-eastwood-prittlewell-travel-centre-shoe

• https://bustimes.org/services/900-freeport-railway-station-braintree-bus-park

It only seems to work for Arriva buses in the Colchester and Southend areas. It also appears to work for most Lothian Buses and Reading Buses routes. How is this website getting this information about the make and model of the vehicle that is working the service (especially considering that the Arriva app won't show this)? If this is available then is there any way to find out the reg number or fleet number as well (for Arriva services)?

----------------

FURTHER UPDATE:

The - https://bustimes.org - website is now showing reg numbers and fleet numbers for over 50 bus companies on their live tracking map - https://bustimes.org/vehicles - on this link.

Further details and a list of the bus operators that are shown are on post number #7 of this thread - https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...t-number-of-the-vehicles.175560/#post-3798964 - which can be viewed here.

----------------

If anyone has any more information or know of any other sites that would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

 

[83G/84D]

Very useful thanks for posting.

 

[peterblue]

https://lvf.io/ is a very interesting site. Didn't know anything like that existed. Thanks for sharing.

 

[henairs]

Hi,
Bournemouth Yellow Buses have tracking info for routes they operate which uses a map of the area then you can either select a route or a location where several routes converge, ie rail Stn Bomo or Christchurch centre and the buses will show moving along their routes and give the fleet number when you touch on that route number.
Cheers,
Mike R

 

[APT618S]

Various divisions of the Go-Ahead Group will allow you to see the bus ID when you touch on the individual bus on the real time map in the App.
APPS include:
Go North East
Metrobus
East Anglia Buses
Brighton & Hove
Oxford Buses

Another one for Lothian is the Edinburgh Transport Visualisation Website which allows you to see on a real time map the location of all the Lothian buses/trams/ECB/LCB. Can show every bus or you can select a single route or a single bus.
https://visualedinburgh.co.uk

 

[borage]

Another is Blackpool Transport, e.g. https://www.blackpooltransport.com/routes/3 – their app and website work much the same as the Reading Buses and Bournemouth Yellow Buses ones.

Additionally this website here - https://bustimes.org - will show the vehicle type for quite a few services (but not the reg number or fleet number).

As a result of this thread, it now shows reg numbers and/or fleet numbers where possible. There's also a "global" map here https://bustimes.org/vehicles – it gets a bit busy if you zoom out too far.

 

[swt class 450]

Thank you. That is brilliant. That https://bustimes.org website is very useful with that information added. So from looking at the map it seems that the website will now work for all of the following operators:

• Age UK
• Arriva Essex
• Arriva Midlands
• Arriva North West
• Arriva The Shires
• Axe Valley Mini Travel
• Bay Travel
• Border Bus
• Brylaine Travel
• Bus Vannin
• Cardiff Bus
• Centrebus
• Centrebus (High Peak)
• Connexxions Buses
• Country Bus
• Courtney Buses
• CT Plus Guernsey
• CT Plus Jersey
• Cumfybus
• Dartline Buses
• Eastbourne Coachways (Renown Coaches)
• Ensignbus
• Falcon Buses
• Filers Coaches
• First Berkshire
• First Cornwall
• First Dorset
• First Essex
• First Hampshire
• First Leicester
• First Norfolk
• First Potteries
• First Suffolk
• First West Of England
• First Wyvern
• Galloway Coaches
• Go Ahead Bluestar
• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove
• Go Ahead Carousel Buses
• Go Ahead Chambers
• Go Ahead Damory Coaches
• Go Ahead Hedingham
• Go Ahead Konect Bus
• Go Ahead London (Luton Airport Shuttle only)
• Go Ahead Metrobus
• Go Ahead More Bus
• Go Ahead Plymouth Citybus
• Go Ahead Salisbury Reds
• Go Ahead Southern Vectis
• Go Ahead Thamesdown
• Go Ahead Tourist Coaches
• Go Ahead Unibus
• Go Ahead Unilink
• Go Coach
• Grant Palmer
• Group Travel
• Hatch Green Coaches
• Hopleys Coaches
• Ipswich Buses
• Lothian Buses
• Lothian Buses (East Coast Buses)
• Lothian Buses (Lothian Country Buses)
• Lynx Bus
• Midland Classic
• NX Dundee (Xplore Dundee)
• NX WM (Wolverhampton depot only)
• OFJ Connections
• OTS Bus
• Our Bus
• Prentice Coaches
• Reading Buses
• Reading Buses (Connect Henley)
• Reading Buses (Greenline)
• Reading Buses (Kennections)
• Reading Buses (Thames Valley)
• Red Eagle Buses
• Red Line Buses
• Red Rose Buses
• Roberts Coaches
• Rotala Diamond North West
• Rotala Diamond Warwickshire & Worcestershire
• Rotala Diamond West Midlands
• Rotala Hallmark Bus
• Rotala Hotel Hoppa
• Safeguard Coaches
• Sanders Coaches
• Select Bus Services
• St Ives Minibus Service
• Stagecoach Cambridgeshire
• Stagecoach East Scotland
• Stagecoach North Scotland
• Stagecoach Northamptonshire
• Stagecoach South
• Stagecoach South West
• Stagecoach Warwickshire
• Star Travel
• Stephensons Of Essex
• Tally Ho Coaches
• Target Travel
• Transdev Rosso Bus
• Translink (Belfast Metro services only)
• Travel Cornwall
• Uno Buses
• Vale Travel
• Wellglade TM Travel
• Whippet Coaches
• White Bus Services
• Whitelaws Coaches
• Williams Travel
• Z & S Transport

Its a very good selection. There are probably also some others bus operators i missed out as well (let me know if you find any other ones).

Can i ask how https://bustimes.org manages to get this information? Have the people running this website had to contact each bus operator and get them to provide access to the internal tracking systems to get all this information? Or is it all publicly available somewhere? I am curious how this works?

I will certainly be using that site a lot in the future. The live vehicle tracking map available at https://bustimes.org/vehicles is fantastic.

Thank you to all for letting me know of the other websites and apps. There are certainly a lot of bus operators that make this information available these days.

 

[Alexbus12]

Vision Bus have both tracker, mobile ticketing and an app. www.visionbus.co.uk

 

[Arriva Fan]

Thank you. That is brilliant. That https://bustimes.org website is very useful with that information added. So from looking at the map it seems that the website will now work for all of the following operators:

• Arriva Essex (Colchester & Southend depots only)
• Bay Travel
• Border Bus
• Bus Vannin
• Cardiff Bus
• Centrebus
• Centrebus (Transpeak)
• CT Plus Guernsey
• CT Plus Jersey
• Cumfybus
• Dartline Buses
• Eastbourne Coachways (Renown Coaches)
• Ensignbus
• First Berkshire
• First Dorset
• First Essex
• First Hampshire
• First Norfolk
• First Suffolk
• Go Ahead London (Luton Airport Shuttle only)
• Go Ahead Plymouth Citybus
• Ipswich Buses
• Lothian Buses
• Lothian Buses (East Coast Buses)
• Lothian Buses (Lothian Country Buses)
• Lynx Bus
• Midland Classic
• Our Bus
• Prentice Coaches
• Reading Buses
• Reading Buses (Connect Henley)
• Reading Buses (Greenline)
• Reading Buses (Kennections)
• Reading Buses (Thames Valley)
• Redline Buses (WP1 service only)
• Rotala Diamond North West
• Rotala Diamond Warwickshire & Worcestershire
• Rotala Diamond West Midlands
• Sanders Coaches
• Stagecoach Cambridgeshire
• Stagecoach Northamptonshire
• Stagecoach South West
• Stephensons Of Essex
• Transdev Rosso Bus
• Translink (Belfast Metro services only)
• Uno Buses
• Whippet Coaches
• Whitelaws Coaches

Its a very good selection. There are probably also some others bus operators i missed out as well (let me know if you find any other ones).

Can i ask how https://bustimes.org manages to get this information? Have the people running this website had to contact each bus operator and get them to provide access to the internal tracking systems to get all this information? Or is it all publicly available somewhere? I am curious how this works?

I will certainly be using that site a lot in the future. The live vehicle tracking map available at https://bustimes.org/vehicles is fantastic.

Thank you to all for letting me know of the other websites and apps. There are certainly a lot of bus operators that make this information available these days.

LibertyBus and Buses.GG are showing for me too.

 

[43055]

Thank you. That is brilliant. That https://bustimes.org website is very useful with that information added. So from looking at the map it seems that the website will now work for all of the following operators:

• Arriva Essex (Colchester & Southend depots only)
• Axe Valley Mini Travel
• Bay Travel
• Border Bus
• Bus Vannin
• Cardiff Bus
• Centrebus
• Centrebus (Transpeak)
• Country Bus
• CT Plus Guernsey
• CT Plus Jersey
• Cumfybus
• Dartline Buses
• Eastbourne Coachways (Renown Coaches)
• Ensignbus
• First Berkshire
• First Dorset
• First Essex
• First Hampshire
• First Norfolk
• First Suffolk
• Go Ahead London (Luton Airport Shuttle only)
• Go Ahead Plymouth Citybus
• Ipswich Buses
• Lothian Buses
• Lothian Buses (East Coast Buses)
• Lothian Buses (Lothian Country Buses)
• Lynx Bus
• Midland Classic
• Our Bus
• Prentice Coaches
• Reading Buses
• Reading Buses (Connect Henley)
• Reading Buses (Greenline)
• Reading Buses (Kennections)
• Reading Buses (Thames Valley)
• Redline Buses (WP1 service only)
• Rotala Diamond North West
• Rotala Diamond Warwickshire & Worcestershire
• Rotala Diamond West Midlands
• Sanders Coaches
• Stagecoach Cambridgeshire
• Stagecoach Northamptonshire
• Stagecoach South West
• Stephensons Of Essex
• Transdev Rosso Bus
• Translink (Belfast Metro services only)
• Uno Buses
• Whippet Coaches
• Whitelaws Coaches

Its a very good selection. There are probably also some others bus operators i missed out as well (let me know if you find any other ones).

Can i ask how https://bustimes.org manages to get this information? Have the people running this website had to contact each bus operator and get them to provide access to the internal tracking systems to get all this information? Or is it all publicly available somewhere? I am curious how this works?

I will certainly be using that site a lot in the future. The live vehicle tracking map available at https://bustimes.org/vehicles is fantastic.

Thank you to all for letting me know of the other websites and apps. There are certainly a lot of bus operators that make this information available these days.

Thank you for this. Just to clarify the Centerbus (Transpeak) all the High Peak operations. It does work well as some of the vehicles that are being picked up in Burton are on the routes they are on today.

As far as I'm aware these maps normally work of the ticket machine on the vehicle with all the route details are entered.

 

[Arriva Fan]

Have the Icons on Bustimes.org changed for everyone, or is it just me?

The yellow circle icon isn't displaying for me anymore.

 

[swt class 450]

Yes indeed i also noticed that they seem to have changed it to white rectangles instead of the yellow circles that they had before.

 

[henairs]

Hi all,
Very useful site but have noticed that on different days certain operators display info on vehicle used on route but not every day. For instance yesterday, Sunday 30th, Stagecoach South West was showing for Falcon and a few of their other routes but not today on the Monday.
This was also true of Plymouth Citybus.
The only operators displaying information in the South/East Devon area today were Axe Valley and Country Bus.
Why would there be this abnormality on different days please and should I be entering some place an operator I would like to cover?
Cheers for any suggestions,
Mike R

 

[nesw]

I believe most of the real time data is from Transport API -https://www.transportapi.com/

 

[Semys67]

Is the Bournemouth Yellow Buses tracking facility available on the website or the app? I cant get it to work on either. I click on a location for a particular route and it just shows a red line tracing the route but no moving buses. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[swt class 450]

I see what you mean. It doesn't seem to be working at the moment. It has definitely been working in the past few days though. I imagine there is probably just a problem with the tracking system at the moment.

 

[Andyh82]

Yes indeed i also noticed that they seem to have changed it to white rectangles instead of the yellow circles that they had before.

They’ve changed them to coloured rectangles based on the livery of the bus now, looks good at Rosso with their many branded buses.

How has this system ended up with such a random selection of operators being covered, some First companies but not all, a couple of Stagecoach but not all, a few Go Ahead but not all, rather than it either being all or nothing?

 

[swt class 450]

I was wondering the same exact thing. It does indeed seem rather strange that some Arriva / First / Go Ahead / Stagecoach companies are shown whilst others are not. I would be interested to know why it has such a random selection.

 

[swt class 450]

I am really liking the colours of the bus liveries that have been added to the rectangles on the - https://bustimes.org/vehicles - vehicle map.

Also i see that Go Ahead South Coast (Bluestar, Damory, More Bus, Salisbury Reds, Southern Vectis, Thamesdown, Tourist, Unibus, Unilink) has since been added. Although strangely all of the brands are showing as "Bluestar" rather than the correct brand name.

 

[gka472l]

I was wondering the same exact thing. It does indeed seem rather strange that some Arriva / First / Go Ahead / Stagecoach companies are shown whilst others are not. I would be interested to know why it has such a random selection.

I'm wondering how new this website is (or the vehicle tracking bit at least), as noted above, some more coverage of some of the Go South Coast fleets are showing, seems to be all of Southern Vectis & Bluestar but only a few More/Salisbury Reds....perhaps if it's new it's a case of adding operators one at a time rather than everything at once....did notice Stagecoach Cambridge wasn't showing a few days ago but is back now, the odd few Stagecoach Devon showing, seemingly odd vehicles on the 2 or 12 only though. Certainly hope coverage increases!

 

[gka472l]

A further update noticed today, a few Arriva North West, Winsford depot vehicles showing, quite a few Arriva Midlands showing and some Stagecoach Midlands as well.....oh, and some NXWM Wolverhampton ones too...no Rotala's showing today though

 

[APT618S]

I have noticed that for operators showing on the tracker of bustimes.org, if you go into the bus operator page there us now a link at the bottom of the services run list which says "an incomplete《Company Name》fleet list".
Clicking on this lists various vehicles. I presume these are ones appearing on the tracker. You can also see vehicle history.
So for Bluestar the vehicle list is:
https://bustimes.org/operators/bluestar/vehicles

 

[Hophead]

There's something a bit odd about the map tracking (at least so far as Southern Vectis is concerned). At time of writing, buses on route 3 should have crossed in Upper Ventnor, but they aren't showing. In fact, after several visits, I've yet to see anything tracked on the south of the island - plenty in and around the main centres of Newport, Cowes and Ryde, and a few out west, but an absolute void south and east.

 

[henairs]

There's something a bit odd about the map tracking (at least so far as Southern Vectis is concerned). At time of writing, buses on route 3 should have crossed in Upper Ventnor, but they aren't showing. In fact, after several visits, I've yet to see anything tracked on the south of the island - plenty in and around the main centres of Newport, Cowes and Ryde, and a few out west, but an absolute void south and east.

Hi Hophead,
Had noticed that as well. Think this is maybe a fledgling site as more info seems to be coming (company's and tracking details) as time goes by.
In my area of interest (South West England) I've noticed that the smaller independent company's are prevellant during the afternoons (prob all day period) whilst the larger company's Stagecoach South West, First Kernow for instance seem to transmit more in the evening and on Sunday's.
Think this is an excellent site and full marks to whoever got it up and running.
Cheers, Mike R

 

[Andyh82]

Although the site has existed for many years the vehicle tracking feature is new.

There are a few bugs but I expect that many be in the data coming from the operator. Looking at Rosso some services never track, they just feature a bus with no service number moving along the map.

I wonder what common feature links all these random operators featured together, I don’t even think they all use the same ticket machines.

 

[Deerfold]

Although the site has existed for many years the vehicle tracking feature is new.

There are a few bugs but I expect that many be in the data coming from the operator. Looking at Rosso some services never track, they just feature a bus with no service number moving along the map.

I wonder what common feature links all these random operators featured together, I don’t even think they all use the same ticket machines.

Is it not just a combination of all the local authority sites that do the same?

When I use the West Yorkshire bus tracking system, only some routes show up. It seems to depend on the operator having fitted appropriate tracking kit (not any particular type, just one that feeds the right information). Generally some smaller operators do not have it, but some buses from large operators don't either - especially when new buses come in. Unfortunately there's usually no requirement to fit the kit (apart from some Quality Bus Schemes?).

In London, the systems are linked into the radio and if not working, it's likely a driver would refuse to take the vehicle out. There are around 9000 fitted buses in London.

 

[swt class 450]

I does seem strange how random it is as to which bus operators are displayed. I don't think it has anything to do with the ticket machines used or the with the local authority sites either.

Perhaps whoever runs the website is having to get the data from each operator and add them one by one. It is probably quite time consuming so this could possibly explain why more and more bus operators are bring added gradually.

I think whoever runs that website must regularly view this forum. As it was just after i posted this thread (see post number one) that they started including reg numbers and fleet numbers.

 

[gka472l]

I does seem strange how random it is as to which bus operators are displayed. I don't think it has anything to do with the ticket machines used or the with the local authority sites either.

Perhaps whoever runs the website is having to get the data from each operator and add them one by one. It is probably quite time consuming so this could possibly explain why more and more bus operators are bring added gradually.

I think whoever runs that website must regularly view this forum. As it was just after i posted this thread (see post number one) that they started including reg numbers and fleet numbers.

Well, if the person who runs that website is on here, it's a great resource not only to see where the bus you're waiting for is, but also brilliant for us enthusiasts for tracking anything specific.....hopefully it will add many more fleets over time......perhaps in future there might be a way of filtering what fleets/areas it shows??

 

[Robertj21a]

I does seem strange how random it is as to which bus operators are displayed. I don't think it has anything to do with the ticket machines used or the with the local authority sites either.

Perhaps whoever runs the website is having to get the data from each operator and add them one by one. It is probably quite time consuming so this could possibly explain why more and more bus operators are bring added gradually.

I think whoever runs that website must regularly view this forum. As it was just after i posted this thread (see post number one) that they started including reg numbers and fleet numbers.

I had assumed that the common denominator was that the ticket machines are those from Ticketer. Is that not the case ?

 

[swt class 450]

No not all of them are using Ticketer. The majority of them (around 75% of them) are using Ticketer but some of the operators shown are using Almex / INIT / VIX ERG / Wayfarer so there is at least five different makes of ticket machines used by the bus operators shown on this map. This is why i don't think it is anything to do with what ticket machine they are using.