Passenger shortlisted for TRANStech Open Data award

Passenger has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Open Data Impact Award at the inaugural TRANStech Awards. The TRANStech ‘Impact Awards’ reward how the use of technology makes transport better.

The TRANStech Awards recognise people and organisations designing and using technology to improve our transport system. They reward excellence and achievement in established and emerging areas of mobility and transport and celebrate positive impacts on people, the environment and our social fabric.

Passenger has been shortlisted for its customer Open Data portals, supporting the work of the Bus Open Data programme within the Department for Transport.

Following the passing of the Bus Services Act 2017, the Government is introducing regulations requiring bus operators or local authorities to publish information on timetables, routes, fares, tickets, vehicle location information and stops from early 2020. Some of this data is already available, with varying degrees of accuracy and consistency. Some is not yet available at all.

In May 2019, Passenger launched Open Data portals for Nottingham City Transport, Yellow Buses in Bournemouth, Courtney Buses, Blackpool Transport. For Reading Buses, Passenger added further data to its existing open data portal. Whilst the forthcoming regulations only apply to England, Cardiff Bus in Wales and Borders Buses in Scotland, also chose to make their data available through Passenger.

In June 2019, Go-Ahead subsidiaries Brighton & Hove Buses and Go South Coast published Open Data portals with Passenger. East Yorkshire became the latest bus company in the UK to release open data with Passenger last week following the launch of its new East Yorkshire Buses website.

Passenger’s goal has been to make it as straightforward as possible for its operators to publish their data as part of their existing workflow. With customers already creating and managing the data for their digital services via Passenger Cloud, this initiative makes it available as open data too.

Open data has been shown to stimulate innovation and economic growth. Data is a key enabler for innovation in transport and an essential part of 21st-century infrastructure. As a forward-thinking team at Passenger, we understand the vital role the transport network plays in our communities.

Mark Fowles, Managing Director at Nottingham City Transport and Traveline Chairman comments: “Many [bus companies] in the industry are still unaware of the full implications of the Bus Services Act. By publishing accurate data openly on our website, as well as into the national open datasets, I hope this step will act as a call to arms for industry colleagues and continue to underline the importance of open data.”

The TRANStech Awards 2019 attracted over 130 entries from across categories encompassing breakthroughs, impacts, experiences and game changers and from automotive vehicles, artificial intelligence, future street infrastructure, cycle safety products and micro-mobility. Every entry was assessed by a jury made up of experts from across the transport, automotive and technology sectors and they have drawn up a shortlist of finalists from which the winners will be selected.

‘In creating these awards, we want to raise awareness and celebrate the people and organisations that are committed to bringing about change for the better in the way we travel across the UK and beyond’

TRANStech Awards Director, Darryl Murdoch.

The inaugural event, taking place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London on 1st November 2019, will be hosted by actor, comedian and writer Robert Llewellyn, best known for playing the mechanoid Kryten in the TV sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf. The ceremony will bring together the transport sector and its customers and partners from across the established automotive and transport industries, and those who have been introducing a range of New Mobility Concepts.

Innovators and pioneers are invited to celebrate their own and others’ successes for outstanding contributions which are reshaping the way transport is provided and used for the better.

Photo by Lukas from Pexels