Real time information overview

From a traveller perspective, real-time information indicates whether a vehicle is going to be late or early, or whether the service is running at all.
Real-time information can be broadly divided into 3 categories:

a. How a vehicle is running through a network (e.g. a bus running along a bus route)

b. How a network is running and its effect on specific vehicles (e.g. a car being delayed due to heavy traffic on a section of road)

c. Travel news - how a network or combinations of networks are performing and what incidents are affecting operations

a) and b) will usually inform the traveller how many minutes a vehicle is running early/late, while c) will usually give a broader picture about how an incident is affecting the network around it.

View the 2006 annual mapping survey results of RTI:  This survey is based on information received from local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland in response to a questionnaire. It assesses the implementation and dissemination of Real Time Information (RTI) on buses, at stops and other locations and on other modes of transport at end-2006. It looks at the likely implementation and dissemination of future RTI systems by end-2007 and end-2008. It looks at the major issues which arose during implementations which had a major impact on timeliness, cost or functional delivery.

Contractor: Real time information group (RTIG)

2006 report (PDF, 729kb)

2005 report (PDF, 561kb)

Travellers should be able to find out, before starting their journey, how any part of their journey is performing in real-time. They should then be able to use this information to re-plan their trip, which allows them to make an informed decision on how they will travel.

Real Time Information should be provided to the traveller at any point where it will be the most useful. This involves using a mixture of different communication methods - typically electronic signs at stops, mobile devices and websites.
RTI should provide the user with:

• information on delays before beginning their trip
• the ability to journey plan using the latest information 
• alerts to problems on a pre-planned journey, and suggest alternatives

Overall, RTI should enable the traveller to make intelligent choices before or during their journey and provide them with all the information necessary to do this.

So far, Transport Direct has concentrated on the development of real-time information in the bus, rail and car sectors. In the future, Transport Direct is keen to see the development of high quality systems for all modes of transport.