Good question - seems there are more than 1 IOS app with bustimes in the app name. The one I have been using for several years for TfL has a white single decker bus inside a white wristwatch on a red background. Appears as Bus Times on the phone screen and I pretty sure that's how I found it all those years ago . I would happily give it 5 stars . I now notice in app search the same icon is labelled London Live Bus Cou..... What I would like is something that reliably gives me Arriva Herts routes 500/508/724 plus Uno 602 . Red Eagle 354 and Red Rose 501 would be nice as well - ideally all in one app. The Uno app is quite good but Arriva's effort is dire - significantly worse than the earlier version. I really need something better than Arriva's. I have complained several times before when it failed to indicate an 8 ( old route ) last-bus-of-the-day no-show - at first I was given a voucher ( nice but of little use with ENCTS ) - subsequently their response has been "Tough - It didn't run" .
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BusTimes.Org
- Thread starter cambsy
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RailUK Forums
Adtrainsam
Member
Bustimes.org is a website and not available as an app.
All in service buses should appear on this map. You can also navigate to find timetables, fleet list/vehicle details etc.
You want https://bustimes.org/
Hertfordshire is under South East
354, 602, 724 are all tracking. Is the 500 Aylesbury to Hemel - if so that is tracking (under Beds and Bucks). There appear to be two 508s. 501 isn't tracking - appears to be Sunday only.
No problem - that is a major point of the Forum - to share information.
PG
Established Member
I don't wish to derail (no pun intended!) the thread but I'd be tempted to use a proper licensed taxi, get a receipt and claim the cost back. If necessary escalate further e.g. council/MP/traffic commissioner.
If you're unhappy with a response to a complaint made to a bus company, take it to Bus Users https://bususers.org/
Not enough people know about them, but Arriva will be signed up to abide by their decisions as a CPT member.
riceuten
Member
- Joined
- 23 May 2018
- Messages
- 544
To be fair to the OP, Bus Users Group have no real enforcement powers, and I am aware that in reality they are just a dispute resolution service. And of course almost all UK bus operators can cite a shortage of drivers, buses (or passengers!) for any issues raised
OptareLover
On Moderation
bustimes.org is definitely the most useful site for users who need to take the bus. There's lots of features for bus enthusiasts & non-enthusiasts!
Harold Hill
On Moderation
bustimes is wonderful. I wish there was a 'donate' option.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
It probably earns a few quid from the ads. I'd pay a small subscription to remove them, they're quite annoying.
There used to be as I have donated in the past.
A Google search brings up the page below but I cannot see the link to it on the bustimes.org site, so unsure if it is still in use, all I can say is the donate page was a ko-fi site:
Buy bustimes.org a Coffee. ko-fi.com/bustimes
Become a supporter of bustimes.org today! ❤️ Ko-fi lets you support the creators you love with no fees on donations.
ko-fi.com
Statto
Established Member
The only thing with Bustimes.Org is that I wish there was a colour map available when tracking the buses. I often get lost using the current map on my mobile device.
Last edited by a moderator:
Harold Hill
On Moderation
Done, thanks for the linkThere used to be as I have donated in the past.
A Google search brings up the page below but I cannot see the link to it on the bustimes.org site, so unsure if it is still in use, all I can say is the donate page was a ko-fi site:
Buy bustimes.org a Coffee. ko-fi.com/bustimes
Become a supporter of bustimes.org today! ❤️ Ko-fi lets you support the creators you love with no fees on donations.
OptareLover
On Moderation
Something I've noticed with bustimes.org's tracking is the following:
Whenever a company like Stagecoach's buses are stopped for a while they'll constantly "track" over and over again making a rather mess of the website. Example.
But whenever some other companies like McGill's/Xplore Dundee won't constantly update their tracking status/location. To make this more clear, if an Xplore Dundee bus is stopped for 7 minutes in the City Centre. It'll say "7 minutes ago" in the last updated tab. But with Stagecoach, it'll just keep tracking/updating as usual.
Is it something to do with how Stagecoach's journeys are listed (example) with links clickable on a certain journey and when you click on it, it'll show the stop times and when it actually arrived? (For example, see the "Schedule" and "Actual" times at the side) and with Xplore Dundee's and lots of other companies, it won't. (Example)
Does anyone actually know why this is the case?
I hope this made sense to everyone, maybe I'm overthinking it. It could just be a different type of live updates the operators give when tracking.
Something else sort of on the same topic, Stagecoach's buses have the ability to track not in service, but I can't think of any other operators who do. I do know a few of the Irish companies do.
Whenever a company like Stagecoach's buses are stopped for a while they'll constantly "track" over and over again making a rather mess of the website. Example.
But whenever some other companies like McGill's/Xplore Dundee won't constantly update their tracking status/location. To make this more clear, if an Xplore Dundee bus is stopped for 7 minutes in the City Centre. It'll say "7 minutes ago" in the last updated tab. But with Stagecoach, it'll just keep tracking/updating as usual.
Is it something to do with how Stagecoach's journeys are listed (example) with links clickable on a certain journey and when you click on it, it'll show the stop times and when it actually arrived? (For example, see the "Schedule" and "Actual" times at the side) and with Xplore Dundee's and lots of other companies, it won't. (Example)
Does anyone actually know why this is the case?
I hope this made sense to everyone, maybe I'm overthinking it. It could just be a different type of live updates the operators give when tracking.
Something else sort of on the same topic, Stagecoach's buses have the ability to track not in service, but I can't think of any other operators who do. I do know a few of the Irish companies do.
Before I go any further, I'll state now that I have no knowledge of how often each operator's tracking system provides updates, but GPS (global positioning system) does have a tendency to drift.
If a vehicle is stationary for 10 minutes but provides location updates every 30 seconds, it may appear that it's in different places in spite of the fact that it hasn't actually moved.
Contains Nuts
Member
- Joined
- 16 Jul 2019
- Messages
- 105
McGills and Xplore Dundee both use Ticketer for vehicle tracking while Stagecoach use VIX ERG which behaves very differently, which explains the differences in data quality.Something I've noticed with bustimes.org's tracking is the following:
Whenever a company like Stagecoach's buses are stopped for a while they'll constantly "track" over and over again making a rather mess of the website. Example.
But whenever some other companies like McGill's/Xplore Dundee won't constantly update their tracking status/location. To make this more clear, if an Xplore Dundee bus is stopped for 7 minutes in the City Centre. It'll say "7 minutes ago" in the last updated tab. But with Stagecoach, it'll just keep tracking/updating as usual.
Is it something to do with how Stagecoach's journeys are listed (example) with links clickable on a certain journey and when you click on it, it'll show the stop times and when it actually arrived? (For example, see the "Schedule" and "Actual" times at the side) and with Xplore Dundee's and lots of other companies, it won't. (Example)
Does anyone actually know why this is the case?
I hope this made sense to everyone, maybe I'm overthinking it. It could just be a different type of live updates the operators give when tracking.
Something else sort of on the same topic, Stagecoach's buses have the ability to track not in service, but I can't think of any other operators who do. I do know a few of the Irish companies do.
Ticketer doesn’t allow public tracking when buses are out of service, unless the company uses a special service number to enter into the ticket machine, suck as First Potteries who use a route named ‘DEAD_RUN’ which can be viewed through bustimes.org: for example https://bustimes.org/vehicles/fpot-66805 shows this as it is a training vehicle.
OptareLover
On Moderation
Something else: a lot of areas if not all of Stagecoach track for a wee bit in the depot. Other operators' buses' just stop tracking at the end of the shift.
I have heard that Stagecoach East Scotland has a system called "Green Road" (or something like that) so buses have to be started with a driver's bus company card, therefore, it automatically tracks in the depot and I guess some buses take forever to turn off when idle in the depot. Source? I was informed of something like that by a Perth depot manager when I was having a tour around their depot.
Presumably, something to do with that I'd imagine?
I have heard that Stagecoach East Scotland has a system called "Green Road" (or something like that) so buses have to be started with a driver's bus company card, therefore, it automatically tracks in the depot and I guess some buses take forever to turn off when idle in the depot. Source? I was informed of something like that by a Perth depot manager when I was having a tour around their depot.
Presumably, something to do with that I'd imagine?
Interesting that this can be done, as for tracking the first bus of the day (which to many is a vital service for connections because there was no ability to travel earlier to create some buffer) it can be a fingernail biting experience. Does the bus exist? Will it pop up as expected?
Does anybody know what happened with Bustimes on Saturday it seemed that quite a number of services around 15:00 seemed to have some weird tracking issues also it was showing vehicles that were operating a service that they weren't actually operating?
For example at least 2 London Buses were apparently tracking on 15:05 X43 Burnley-Manchester service being EP11 - LG71 DZT & 169 - YX61 ENL.
For example at least 2 London Buses were apparently tracking on 15:05 X43 Burnley-Manchester service being EP11 - LG71 DZT & 169 - YX61 ENL.
See here for the answer to that question:
Bus times showing random details
I am looking at bustimes to see where my bus is. 10 minutes ago, all was well. Now it shows the buses in the correct locations but the details of the bus and service are totally random, rather like there is a misalignment between databases. Is it bustimes or my browser - Firefox on android...
www.railforums.co.uk
OptareLover
On Moderation
I feel bad for the bustimes.org moderators sometimes honestly.
The website gets such vandalism sometimes. In bustimes.org vehicles edits, where registered members get to suggest changes to their website. Upvoted edits get approved, downvoted don't.
Back a few months ago, when I always used to check Bustimes' pending vehicle edits, there were always little kids coming onto the website and attempting to change the vehicles' details to unfunny swears/rude words, etc + false info. I don't know if it's calmed down a bit now (I don't really check it as often, so I don't really know!) but back then it was mental.
Does anyone know why bustimes.org was so targeted by trollers back then/possibly still is now?
The website gets such vandalism sometimes. In bustimes.org vehicles edits, where registered members get to suggest changes to their website. Upvoted edits get approved, downvoted don't.
Back a few months ago, when I always used to check Bustimes' pending vehicle edits, there were always little kids coming onto the website and attempting to change the vehicles' details to unfunny swears/rude words, etc + false info. I don't know if it's calmed down a bit now (I don't really check it as often, so I don't really know!) but back then it was mental.
Does anyone know why bustimes.org was so targeted by trollers back then/possibly still is now?
OptareLover
On Moderation
There's a new bustimes.org update where instead of marking a bus as "withdrawn", you mark it as "removed from fleet list" and it looks so messy in the pending edits page!
EnviroExplorer
Member
The functionality is still the same. Not sure why this needs to be mentioned here when it doesn’t affect the average user of bustimes.
Andy Pacer
Established Member
Probably because the thread is called bustimes.org
It affects the appearance and some may have be confused
Baxenden Bank
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2013
- Messages
- 4,041
Indeed. All aspects of bustimes.org including the more enthusiast related elements, even if it is a sideline to the majority.
Personally, sometimes, I felt the vehicle details section was some kind of turf war where person A would make an edit (eg to livery or allocation), a short while later person B would edit it back to the previous. Which is correct I wouldn't know.
pokemonsuper9
Established Member
That's the point of getting evidence (like a photo) and attaching it.
I've not seen it as a turf war much, although I quite rarely get buses anymore so I can't contribute (nor check it) as much.
Baxenden Bank
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2013
- Messages
- 4,041
Yes, I just had a quick look at my local operator, and the first bus listed. Some edits have a source. Not quite Wikpedia but better than random 'I heard from a bloke whose brother cleans the buses that....'
· First Potteries
· 33826 - SN63 MYJ
574 7 months, 3 weeks ago livery to 2810 7 months, 3 weeks ago livery to
Sat at the olive grove in the livery with its other counterparts which are currently in storage574 11 months, 4 weeks ago operator from FLEI to FPOT
source -574 1 year ago operator from FBRI to FLEI
Now in Leicester according toQuack77 - First Midlands fleet list
buslists.uk