Transport for LondonCountdown
The Countdown system takes the uncertainty out of waiting for a bus, as passengers know exactly when their bus is due to arrive.
In addition to showing the order in which buses will reach a stop, Countdown will show their destinations and the number of minutes until each bus's expected arrival.
Countdown can also display special messages about travel conditions.
Transport for London (TfL) has recently completed the rollout phase of the iBus project.
The entire fleet of London's buses is now fully operational.
One benefit of the system is the provision of live bus-tracking of vehicles enabling bus operators to better regulate their bus service.
This live bus-tracking data feeds the Countdown system.
The data is also used for service control and emergency response coordination through London Buses Emergency and Control Centre - CentreComm.
Read more about iBus here.
What has improved?
The live bus-tracking data is now more accurate than ever before, providing passengers with improved predictions for the arrival time of buses at bus stops with Countdown signs.
Going forward
The current Countdown system is being replaced with a new system to bring even more benefits to passengers.
The new and improved Countdown system will provide new options for the delivery of bus arrival information for passengers via the internet, mobile phones and on-street displays.
Passengers will be able to access bus arrival time predictions for all bus stops and bus routes in London via the internet and mobile phones.
The mobile phone option will allow passengers to text their bus stop number and bus route to a central telephone number to receive real-time bus arrival times for that stop and route directly to their mobile phones.
Real time information for buses will also be made available via the internet.
With greater flexibility to provide real time information than SMS, web users can be helped in their selection of the appropriate bus stop or route with passengers enabled to search for their bus stop by name, post code and on a map via TfL's website.
The internet and SMS services will also be complemented by a new generation of Countdown signs which will provide real time information at around 2,500 key bus stops in London.
TfL have recently awarded three contracts to develop and deliver these improvements:
- The systems integrator contract covers the development of the software and the delivery of web and mobile content. It has been awarded to telent
- The sign supply, installation and maintenance contracts cover the installation and maintenance of the bus stop signs. These have been awarded to ACIS and Trueform
The contracts will run for 12 years. The mobile and web information should be available by early 2011, and the roll out of new Countdown signs will begin in spring 2011.
