ETC Conference Papers

Seminar
Day 2 (19 Sep 2024), Session 5, Network design, 11:00 - 12:30

Status
Accepted, awaiting documents

Submitted by / Abstract owner
Jamie King

Authors
Jamie King, WSP (presenter)
Christopher Storey, Transport for the North (presenter)

Short abstract
This paper describes work undertaken by WSP, Systra and Transport for the North (TfN) to create bus timetable analysis and mapping tools, based on open bus time table data provided by the Department for Transport (TfN) and socioeconomic data.

Abstract
This paper describes work undertaken by WSP, Systra and Transport for the North (TfN) to create
bus service analysis and mapping tools, based on open bus timetable data provided by the
Department for Transport (TfN) and socioeconomic data from the Office for National Statistics.
The UK government launched its Bus Back Better strategy in March 2021 as part of its new National
Bus Strategy. To implement that strategy, a £3bn fund was made available to improve bus services
providing Local Authorities (LA) could provide compelling plans that would improve bus services
within their areas. The Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) was created through which investment
projects would be funded.
Only £1.25bn has so far been awarded so the ongoing opportunity for LAs is clear. WSP have been
engaging with LAs to understand the common challenges faced when the BSIPs were created. A key
issue identified through discussions with LAs is concerning the lack of in-house capability to exploit
the open bus data made available by DfT via the Bus Open Data Services (BODS) database for gaining
useful insights for bus service planning. These open bus data include bus schedules, real-time
location and fare information that are updated frequently by DfT.
To address this issue, WSP, in partnership with Transport for the North, have developed a series of
bus service metrics indicating the level of accessibility to employment, education and other
opportunities at different zonal levels. This which links directly to the DfT’s BODS database and
enhances TfN’s existing Analytical Framework with time specific, ‘real network’ bus analyses. When
combined with their other metrics, this provides clear and instant insight into levels of service,
accessibility to opportunities (scalable to a wide range of socio-demographics), locations where
supply may not be meeting demand and opportunities to better serve vulnerable communities. This
platform is scalable across the country, gives direct assistance to LAs, improves the available
evidence underpinning their funding requests and reduces the time and resource required for
existing overstretched Authorities.
Systra are complementing this work by developing a visualisation tool, providing an expandable
platform through which the analysis can be accessed instantaneously and alongside other analytical
tools and datasets developed by TfN. This simplifies reduces the time required to collate high quality
evidence on the efficacy of bus services.

Programme committee
Local Public Transport

Topic
Transport planning analysis and models