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

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Deerfold

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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.

My suggestion that it's an agglomeration of the data provided to local authority sites still seems likely - this would explain why routes appear only on some days if operators only have some fitted buses.
 
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Perhaps some of it could be local authority data. But there is definitely more to it then that.

For example why is it that Eastbourne Coachways (who operate local bus routes around Bexhill) is the one and only bus operator in all of Sussex that is showing on the map. The local authority data in Sussex covers far more bus operators than this.

Although interestingly Red Line Buses vehicles only show up when they are on their Berkshire services (335/583/WP1). The same exact vehicles never show up when they have been put on other routes (like in Buckinghamshire or Hertfordshire for example). So this would suggest that maybe it is something to do with the local authority data.

So perhaps some of them are coming from local authority data. But certainly not all of them are. It can't all be local authority data.
 
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A small update today:
Gatwick Airport Shuttle Buses added - strange choice so add to the confusion as commented above
Falcon Buses Vehicles now have an appropriately coloured icon

And I also am very intrigued as to where the data is coming from, but it will certainly prove very useful for me this year if it continues to expand at the current range. Good on the people behind this, it’s pretty much becoming a UK version of the established London Vehicle Finder
 
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I am very surprised to see the Gatwick Airport bendy buses (operated by Omniserv [OFJ Connections]) added especially considering these are unregistered free car park routes that don't even have timetables. I am glad they added this though as it will make finding these buses easier. This makes me even more intrigued as to where they are getting the data from. This can't have anything to do with local authority data.
 
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Also these Gatwick Airport Car Park Shuttle bendy buses don't even have ticket machines fitted so i am very curious as to where the tracking is coming from.
 
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I am guessing that Stewarts Coaches and Woods Coaches are the same company as their websites look pretty much identical:

https://stewartscoaches.com/tracking/

Although strangely the Stewarts Coaches tracking site shows all their coaches but not their buses (the Mercedes Benz Citaro vehicles used on the Thames Valley Park contract).
 

gka472l

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As of this moment (21:38), there are three First Kernow vehicles showing on the 27, 47 & U2, first one's I've noticed...….
 
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They seem to be adding more and more every day. I notice that Courtney Buses has been added today as well.
 

Qwerty133

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Woods don't do any school runs. They are part of the National Express group.
They certainly had a small number of school contract up until at least a few years ago. They also used to have a large contract with next to transport workers although others now seem to do much of this work.
 

Robertj21a

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They certainly had a small number of school contract up until at least a few years ago. They also used to have a large contract with next to transport workers although others now seem to do much of this work.

As you say, they had a few school runs some years ago but nothing recently. They still do most of the contract work for NEXT.
 
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It looks like Safeguard Buses (who operate in the Guildford area) have now been added this morning. Great to see more and more bus operators being added.
 

Rob T

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This is a very interesting development, but I would not take the vehicle information as being indicative rather than 100% accurate. There will always be a few "ghosts in the machine".

For example, if I look at the Arriva Herts and Essex indicative vehicle list, it currently shows vehicles 1501 and 4106 operating on Route 133 - which they have been doing so for the last two weeks. Unfortunately this is a mis-identification as these two vehicles are happily working from their home depot in Tunbridge Wells - in fact they have never known to be at Colchester.

I believe that the tracker receives the vehicle data that is held on its ticketing machine. Therefore if that is just wrong or is awaiting a re-set to the correct data then what appears on bus tracker will also be incorrect. This is likely to apply to new deliveries as what purports to be 1501 and 4106 are probably the two new Strreetlites allocated to Colchester for Route 133 [4323 and 4324] - which, currently do not appear on the tracker at all.

This is not intended as a criticism of the system at all, just do not expect 100% accuracy all the time.
 
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Yes i think the majority of bus operators use their ticket machines to track their vehicles. So if it is showing the wrong reg number or fleet number then i imagine that means that they have swapped ticket machines but have forgotten to change the ticket machine to show the correct number. I have often seen this before when i have bought paper tickets and the ticket machine has had the wrong reg number or fleet number printing on the tickets.
 

Andyh82

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If the developers are reading this thread I will point out that at Rosso the three Tottington Line streetlites (610, 618, 619) are incorrectly coloured in the orange Trax brand colour.

Also is ‘Notts & Derby’ a new addition to the site?
 
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Also is ‘Notts & Derby’ a new addition to the site?

No, they have been on there for quite a while ;)

Doesn’t look to have been any updates other than some colouring today. Personally I’m awaiting NXWM to be finished off but it will take a while seeing as they have 1000+ buses !
 
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Something else i have noticed is that Rotala Diamond Bus has now disappeared (all of their North West and Worcestershire & Warwickshire and West Midlands operations). It used to always be showing every day but no longer does. I wonder why this is.

Also the Devon area is still rather strange in that some days it only shows Stagecoach South West vehicles whilst on other days it only shows the various independent bus operators vehicles. But it never seems to show both. This does seem rather odd.

There also seems to be a few other bus operators around the UK which will only show up on some days and then on other days they won't be on the tracking map at all. I would be interested to know all the reasons behind this. I can't seem to work this out.
 

Bradley

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Does anyone know what site for bus tracker which shows fleet numbers for all First Buses.
 

henairs

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Hi,
Filers coaches, North Devon and a single Hatch Green coaches, Somerset route showing early morning.
Mike R
 
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Some more good news. It also looks like Rotala Hallmark Bus and Rotala Hotel Hoppa have now been added and Rotala Diamond Bus has reappeared now as well.
 
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Some stagecoach east scotland ones have appeared on bustimes.org (not showing fleet numbers) along with stagecoach in the highland which I've noted 27811/2, 27796 and 36070 tonight.
 
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I see that National Express Dundee (Xplore Dundee) has also been added.

Strangely the recently added Stagecoach vehicles in East Scotland are all showing four digit fleet numbers instead of the actual correct five digit fleet numbers.

Rotala Hallmark Bus and Rotala Hotel Hoppa have disappeared now after only being added a couple of days ago. OFJ Connections at Gatwick Airport has also disappeared despite working perfectly and showing for many days. It is strange how so many bus operators seem to keep disappearing for a while.
 

gka472l

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A lot of Stagecoach South West is showing now (with correct colours for the Hop12 & Falcon at least), plus quite a lot of First Kernow too.....
 
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It looks like Red Rose Buses (a sister company of Red Eagle Buses and Red Line buses and various other Aylesbury based operators) has now started to appear. Although only their vehicles on two routes (on the 33 and 33A in the Milton Keynes area) are actually showing up.

The addition of Stagecoach North Scotland is very useful for that thread a few weeks ago about the furthest you could travel on bus vehicles. It is interesting to see which of their routes are using buses and which are using coaches.

I see that Stagecoach North Scotland in the Orkney Islands have even been added. That will be useful to spot that very elusive Optare Solo SR EV vehicle. I wonder if we will see buses in the Shetland Islands and in the Outer Hebrides added at some point as well.
 

Jordan Adam

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It looks like Red Rose Buses (a sister company of Red Eagle Buses and Red Line buses and various other Aylesbury based operators) has now started to appear. Although only their vehicles on two routes (on the 33 and 33A in the Milton Keynes area) are actually showing up.

The addition of Stagecoach North Scotland is very useful for that thread a few weeks ago about the furthest you could travel on bus vehicles. It is interesting to see which of their routes are using buses and which are using coaches.

I see that Stagecoach North Scotland in the Orkney Islands have even been added. That will be useful to spot that very elusive Optare Solo SR EV vehicle. I wonder if we will see buses in the Shetland Islands and in the Outer Hebrides added at some point as well.

28645 is off route on the X98! However it will only go as far north as Dunbeath where passengers will have to change on to a coach.
 
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I bet most of the ordinary passengers won't be too happy. Although it is good news for the disabled and OAPs. I have heard the ordinary buses have occasionally done the X97/X98/X99 all the way from Inverness to Scrabster/Thurso/Wick a few times.
 
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