Dublin Bus Live Timetable

Collie D

Finally Dublin Bus have announced that they are introducing live schedules at bus stops telling you when next bus is due like they have at DART stations and Luas stops. Apparently this should be fuly introduced by the end of the year and is being trialled on the 123 route. Does anyone use this route and how accurate is it?

_blank_

hmmm, at every stop?

It won't last, with the amount of toe-rags in this city hell bent on destroying public property for their own divilment.

Cool Mo D

Des wrote: »

hmmm, at every stop?

It won't last, with the amount of toe-rags in this city hell bent on destroying public property for their own divilment.

Yes, just like all the dublin bikes that are now in the river :rolleyes:

iUseVi

Collie D wrote: »

Finally Dublin Bus have announced that they are introducing live schedules at bus stops telling you when next bus is due like they have at DART stations and Luas stops. Apparently this should be fuly introduced by the end of the year and is being trialled on the 123 route. Does anyone use this route and how accurate is it?

Sounds awesome, can't possibly see how it could be accurate though, buses may leave the first stop at the right time but with traffic plus varying driver speeds?

Unless they put GPS in buses or something but that would be expensive. I suppose there would have to be some communication between bus and sign anyway so it could be updated when the bus has passed that stop, so maybe that assists with accuracy?

Captain Chaos

Could be done with automated radio signals, like how the PA system on the DART works, when it works that is. Sometimes it skips or drops its location marker.

bassey

Anyone who's ever got a bus in London know what this is like and it works great. Really hope it gets done soon.

Dyr

shouldnt be too hard to implement: just one recorded message needed

"ehhh...should be one along dere soon enough"

tfak85

this will be great! i know in berlin the system works from GPS on the busses, each bus stop has a code on it and you can text that code to a number and get a text back telling you when your bus will arrive, taking traffic into consideration.
the 123 is the most regular bus in the city, isn't it?

actuallylike

Des wrote: »

hmmm, at every stop?

It won't last, with the amount of toe-rags in this city hell bent on destroying public property for their own divilment.

The Luas one's seem to be holding up alright.

Gavin "shels"

tfak85 wrote: »

the 123 is the most regular bus in the city, isn't it?

Would be ye.

actuallylike wrote: »

The Luas one's seem to be holding up alright.

Don't Luas stops have cameras?

actuallylike

Gavin shels wrote: »

Don't Luas stops have cameras?

True, but I'd still hasten to jump to suggestion that they'd get trashed. I mean, the ones in London and also the Luas one's are big sturdy things, would be very hard to do much damage to. And Dublin Bus seem content to have glass bus stops so I don't think they're going to worry too much about a big metallic block.

Offside

If this is introduced on the 17 route it will massively improve my life...

alexlyons

actuallylike wrote: »

True, but I'd still hasten to jump to suggestion that they'd get trashed. I mean, the ones in London and also the Luas one's are big sturdy things, would be very hard to do much damage to. And Dublin Bus seem content to have glass bus stops so I don't think they're going to worry too much about a big metallic block.

didn't they change to plexi-glass because the glass was getting smashed? used to frequently drive by and see the glass shattered!

Offside wrote: »

If this is introduced on the 17 route it will massively improve my life...

46A all the way

MIN2511

This is brilliant news! I don't take the bus but i think it's about time we were using this.

actuallylike

alexlyons wrote: »

didn't they change to plexi-glass because the glass was getting smashed?

I still see the odd one about smashed I think, maybe it's certain areas.

kmart6

Still glass in some saw one getting replaced on Camden St. the other day!

phasers

I remember that they had this in Palmerstown Donkey's years ago and it was removed for some reason, vandalism maybe?

I can't remember whether it worked though, but if this new one works like the Luas one does it will be brilliant

tfak85

that one was along a few of the palmerstown/lucan bus stops... i think they were running it off the timetable though, i remember auditors being at the busstops asking drivers exactly what time they left the terminus and stuff...
hopefully this one will be a bit better.

markpb

iUseVi wrote: »

Unless they put GPS in buses or something but that would be expensive. I suppose there would have to be some communication between bus and sign anyway so it could be updated when the bus has passed that stop, so maybe that assists with accuracy?

Each bus is/will be fitted with a GPS device which uses the existing bus radio to send it's location to the central server. The server can then update the website, answer SMS requests and push the data to a Dublin City Council server which will (might) aggregate it with private bus operators and push it out to displays at selected bus stops. There are too many bus stops to put displays on all of them.

The GPS on the bus will also tell it where along the route it is so the bus can have internal displays/announcements about the current street and next stop. This bit is already working on the 123.

tfak85 wrote: »

that one was along a few of the palmerstown/lucan bus stops... i think they were running it off the timetable though, i remember auditors being at the busstops asking drivers exactly what time they left the terminus and stuff...
hopefully this one will be a bit better.

It was a pilot scheme and as far as I know, worked perfectly. When DB asked the government for money to roll it out across all the buses, the government said no and the scheme was mothballed. From time to time, DB inspectors can be spotted out of the confines of the city centre doing spot audits on all routes to update the timetables - it has nothing to do with the old GPS system.

Mark200

They have them in Belfast... pretty handy.

It was tried on the 78A route about 10 years ago. The stop outside the old TSB on Thomas Street had one and that lasted. Never gave the correct info about bus times but the junkies and locals never seemed to try wreck it. And if it does work the junkies on that route will be sorted. They'll know exactly when their next hit is due!

CianRyan

I was just complaining about this about two weeks ago, awesome. Haha

irishguy

They should really have live data feeds or an API on there site so people can develop apps/websites that plug into it

KC61

This is part of the implementation of the rollout of the long awaited Automatic Vehicle Location and Control (AVLC) system, bsaed on GPS technology that has been on the back burner due to lack of Government funding.

The initial phase of this has been implemented on the buses on the 123 route, whereby the route controller in the new central control centre in Broadstone can monitor the progress of each bus along the route on a bank of screens.

When the testing phase is completed, due I think this month, it will be rolled out across all Summerhill vehicles. After that it will be phased in across the entire fleet by the end of 2010. The GPS equipment is currently being fitted out on the entire fleet.

The single deck buses on route 123 have all been fitted with internal displays that currently display real time the next bus stop and the route details.

I understand that when the system is fully tested that the ability to check online the time that the next bus is due at a particular stop (each bus stop is now numbered).

A follow-on from all of this will be the on-street displays at selected bus stops.

Dyr

markpb wrote: »

It was a pilot scheme and as far as I know, worked perfectly. When DB asked the government for money to roll it out across all the buses, the government said no and the scheme was mothballed.

Which is funny because most dublin bus employees on boards always let on that the taxpayer does'nt foot the bill for their services

So will this GPS doo hickey let the controllers know when a driver doesn't bother picking up at a stop?

dfx-

KC61 wrote: »

When the testing phase is completed, due I think this month, it will be rolled out across all Summerhill vehicles. After that it will be phased in across the entire fleet by the end of 2010. The GPS equipment is currently being fitted out on the entire fleet.

Funnily enough, I was on one of Summerhill's RVs fitted with the cab locator thing on Monday night having read this thread (RV557)

It could identify the route, whether the bus was stopped or driving, but couldn't locate the route position for love nor money.

The bus was on Dame St/Westmoreland St.

backboiler

tfak85 wrote:

the 123 is the most regular bus in the city, isn't it?

Gavin shels wrote: »

Would be ye.

I don't know about most regular (or how you might measure that) but you might want to look at the 46A timetable for the most frequent accolade.

adamski8

about fuping time. im sick of having to decide on waiting for a bus with a better route or the first to arrive

markpb

dfx- wrote: »

It could identify the route, whether the bus was stopped or driving, but couldn't locate the route position for love nor money.

I've seen plenty of buses like that - I think it just means it hasn't had the route map and bus stop locations downloaded to the device yet.

CrazyRabbit

And next week they increase the fare prices by 20% citing 'for improvements to the service'.

A Disgrace

AFIK all buses currently have the GPS systems hidden under the drivers seats, and the project has been ready to go for years. It works in Germany and France etc, so it should work here.. I think the Bike scheme should prove to people that vandalism won't be too much of an issue here..

Here's hoping anyway!