Features and What's New on Transport Direct

The portal (www.transportdirect.info) provides all the information a traveller needs to plan a journey by any mode, or mixture of modes, of transport within Great Britain, including:

• Complete door-to-door journey options by car and by public transport;
• "Quick Planners" to find a train, coach, flight or car route;
• Step-by-step directions for joined-up public transport journeys;
• Step-by-step driving directions for car journeys, with journey times on strategic roads that reflect historic traffic levels;
• Maps of journeys showing each individual stage, and interchange points;
• "Find nearest" station/airport search;
• Choose how to specify an origin or destination - by place, address, postcode, place of interest, coach/railway station etc. - or to find the location on a map;
• Maps of journeys showing each individual stage, and interchange points;
• Tools to modify or extend a journey plan and to replace a section of a public transport journey plan with a car plan;
• Ticket prices for rail and coach journeys and link to e-retailers to seamlessly buy tickets for the chosen journey;
• Live travel information for Britain's rail and road networks;
• Indicative costs for car journeys based on a number of factors, such as approximate fuel costs specific to the size and engine type of the vehicle;
• Get access park and ride information and journey planning for over 50 towns and cities across Britain;
• Find nearest car park and plan a journey to it. 
• Mobile phone access to Transport Direct services such as live travel information and the planning of simple rail and bus journeys.

Door to door journey planner

The simplest way to search is using the door-to-door journey planner, which searches for up to five journey options - by joined up public transport or by car.  You can plan from postcodes, stations, places and even local attractions.

The 'Maps' and 'Tickets/Costs' buttons allow you to see route maps, ticket prices and driving costs.  You can check the prices and availability of rail and coach tickets.  If you want to book, we can automatically pass your journey details to one of our partner retailer sites so that you can buy online.

Similarly you can see your route, or individual sections of it, on a map by clicking the 'map' button.  You can also list stops for a service by clicking on the transport icon in your journey itinerary.

Single mode journey planners

If you already know how you want to travel, you may want to use our single mode planners.

Find a train
Find a flight
Find a car route
Find a coach
Find a bus

City to city planner

Compare train, plane and coach journeys between two cities.

Live travel information

You can check for any incidents on the roads or the public transport network that may affect your journey, either on a map or as a list, on the live travel news page of http://www.transportdirect.info/TransportDirect/en/LiveTravel/Home.aspx?cacheparam=0

Find out when the next train or bus leaves, or whether there are any current delays to your service, by visiting the departure boards page on www.transportdirect.info .

For details on Transport Direct's mobile service, visit the tools section of this website.

Further details on Transport Direct's main features can be found in the 'About Us' section at www.transportdirect.info

Car parking information

We have car park information for over 10,000 car parks, covering major towns and cities across Great Britain. The user can find the nearest car park to their destination and get information on costs and opening times.

Car Parks are also shown as on our maps and you can plan your journey to and from locations.

We will continue expanding the range of car parks that we cover over the next few months.

Calculating Carbon Emissions on Transport Direct

Transport Direct launched a car carbon calculator at the end of 2006, which is believed to be another world first for Transport Direct.  The calculator enables the user to calculate the amount of CO2 they will emit for a specific car journey they have planned on Transport Direct.  The calculator allows the user to compare this amount with the amount of carbon emitted for petrol or diesel cars with different size engines. Transport Direct already takes account of predicted levels of congestion on the roads which also enables the calculator to give the anticipated amount of CO2, ending in greater accuracy.

In April 2007 Transport Direct also enabled users to find out how much carbon is emitted from public transport and comparing this with car and other modes of transport.

When we compare car CO2 with public transport CO2 we are not in absolute terms comparing like with like. We compare the predicted kg of CO2 produced for a car journey with a specified number of occupants with an estimate of the total kg of CO2 that would be produced for each traveller on one or more type of public transport.  However, a car and public transport are different. In absolute terms of reducing CO2 it is always better to use a scheduled public transport service than a car.

What's New on Transport Direct?

During 2006/07 key elements of the service have also been made available for the first time through interactive digital television; and new functionality has been introduced to the main internet service, including:

• New ways of finding the best rail deals:
  • 'Find Cheaper' option - choose the route and the train time, view the fares for that train and then look for a cheaper option;
  • 'Search by price' - choose the route and the date (which can be flexible) and let Transport Direct find out which trains have seats available at the lowest prices.