[PR] Bus Éireann Customers Can Now Get Up-To-The-Second Arrival and Departure Times

KC61

Some good news...Bus Eireann has launched its realtime information system on a new website - www.whensmybus.ie

Definitely a step in the right direction!

http://www.buseireann.ie/news.php?id=851&month=Apr

Bus Éireann has launched a new website – www.whensmybus.ie – to promote its real-time information system, which enables customers to know exactly when buses will arrive and depart at stops across the country via the Web or text.

The new site allows customers to get up-to-the-second information on arrival and departure times of services across the country through an on-line display board.

They can also use the site to get the individual codes for bus stops throughout the country. Each stop has a unique code associated with it, which can be found on www.whensmybus.ie. This code can then be texted to a number – 087 9903410 – to get up-to-the-second times of the next services to arrive at that stop.

The introduction of www.whensmybus.ie means that customers can get the most up-to-date arrival and departure times for their buses by PC or mobile before they go to their stop or while they are it.

"Knowing exactly when your bus will arrive at your stop will make using the bus even more convenient for customers. It should also remove a barrier for people who don’t usually use the bus who might be concerned about having to wait at a stop," said Andrew McLindon, PR Manager, Bus Éireann.

Real-time information tells customers exactly when the next bus is due to arrive, as distinct from the scheduled time of arrival, which can be distorted due to congestion, road works, diversions and adverse weather conditions.

The system uses Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology, which is underpinned by Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, to track the movements of individual buses and then calculates how far the vehicle is from its next destination.

Bus Éireann is also currently working with Dublin City Council and Cork City Council on the introduction of real time passenger information displays at appropriate bus stops/shelters in Cork City and in the GDA. In the near future, the system will be linked to traffic light management systems so as to give priority to buses through traffic lights.

The system was funded under the National Development Plan and Transport21, and from Bus Éireann’s own resources.

Bus Éireann has begun rolling-out an information campaign on the service across its network of bus shelters and bus stops.

The launch of www.whensmybus.ie is the latest in a series of digital media initiatives by the company. This has included the introduction of Facebook and Twitter pages, special €2 fares on inter-city routes being available through Twitter only, and a recent on-line seat sale across many inter-city services. The company’s Facebook page has nearly 4,500 fans and its Twitter page has over 2,000 followers.

In addition, Bus Éireann has recently re-designed its website – www.buseireann.ie – to make it even easier to purchase its tickets on-line. Bus Éireann was the first coach company in Europe to introduce on-line ticket sales for immediate use.


Monday, 12th April, 2010

foggy_lad

They used to have the same thing on their website, good to see them improving it by giving its own site! Now to improve on the comfort of their own and hired coaches!

murphaph

I don't see it as a positive that they've given it it's own website! It's a bus Eireann feature, so should be part of the bus Eireann webiste IMO. I actually hate how often "spin off" websites seem to be created in Ireland, instead of keeping things in their proper place.

Anyway, surely a step in the right direction and just shows you that of the three CIE companies, yet again BE is the modt forward thinking...perhaps because it has real private competition to deal with.

markpb

murphaph wrote: »

I don't see it as a positive that they've given it it's own website! It's a bus Eireann feature, so should be part of the bus Eireann webiste IMO. I actually hate how often "spin off" websites seem to be created in Ireland, instead of keeping things in their proper place.

Agreed. They've already "spun off" the journey planner to the snapplily titled http://194.106.151.94/jplan/bin :-)

My other problem is that the page doesn't (at first impression) look very mobile friendly. I haven't tried to use it from my phone but I'm guessing it'll be pretty much unusable. Since a growing number of phones have internet access, I'd see that as more useful than the current website.

Still, kudos to BE for improving their customer support.

KC61

murphaph wrote: »

I don't see it as a positive that they've given it it's own website! It's a bus Eireann feature, so should be part of the bus Eireann webiste IMO. I actually hate how often "spin off" websites seem to be created in Ireland, instead of keeping things in their proper place.

Anyway, surely a step in the right direction and just shows you that of the three CIE companies, yet again BE is the modt forward thinking...perhaps because it has real private competition to deal with.

It is linked to on the BE homepage.

Irish Rail also have realtime information on their website and Dublin Bus will be rolling it out as the year progresses.

Colm R

Just tried to use the website on my mobile. Completely unworkable on Opera Mini or Nokia Browser on a Nokia E51.

On a computer, the website looks like a first year computer science project by someone who has just picked up the basics of HTML.

Opening a can of worms here, but if we are serious about a National Transport Authority, surely this kind of functionality would be best placed on an NTA website rather than individual companies. As you can see, Dublin Bus are working on their own version:

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/About-Us/Projects/RTPI/

If I was a TD, my question to Mr. Dempsey would be, why after so many years are public companies still working in such a dis-jointed approach wasting money delivering dis-jointed information.

KC61

You might ask Mr Dempsey at the same time why funding was withheld some years ago preventing rollout of real time passenger information....

cson

Colm R wrote: »

Just tried to use the website on my mobile. Completely unworkable on Opera Mini or Nokia Browser on a Nokia E51.

On a computer, the website looks like a first year computer science project by someone who has just picked up the basics of HTML.

Opening a can of worms here, but if we are serious about a National Transport Authority, surely this kind of functionality would be best placed on an NTA website rather than individual companies. As you can see, Dublin Bus are working on their own version:

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/About-Us/Projects/RTPI/

If I was a TD, my question to Mr. Dempsey would be, why after so many years are public companies still working in such a dis-jointed approach wasting money delivering dis-jointed information.

Out of the 3 CIE companies the one that it would benefit the most, gets it last. :rolleyes:

Dublin Bus timetables are routed via some indeterminate terminus [I say indeterminate because for the vast majority of us who suffer Bus Ath Cliath we don't give a **** where it starts from] giving no real indication of when a bus will arrive [I'm sure posters will cite traffic etc as reasons for not having a stop specific timetable and I accept that somewhat].

Mrs OBumble

On week, on, is there any feedback on how well it's actually working?

Is the real-time information actually real?

Has anyone actually sat at Bally-somewhere bus stop (not Busarus, that would be too easy!), and compared what's on the system to what's on the ground?

I'd offer to do it in Galway, but the abysmal bus station means there's nowhere that my laptop-with-dodgy-battery and I can sit sheltered from the weather and plugged in.


Oh .. and I totally agree with the previous poster who asked why it's not under the NRA umbrella. We're not going to get public-transport info sorted until providing timetable and real-time service info to a central authority (which then provides it to the public) is a basic part of the licensing conditions.

Zoney

To be honest, although I haven't tested it in real time, it is convincing enough as for Limerick you can clearly see the bunching of buses and gaps in service that regularly occurs on the Raheen and Castletroy routes.

The biggest flaw in this is not having a website that can be browsed by not only smartphones, but ordinary mobile phones. No reason not to have a trivial website with a search box that you enter your stop into, and it loads a table of upcoming departures for the result matching that.