East Riding of Yorkshire Council, working in partnership with East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS), is pleased to announce the launch of a new real-time information service for bus passengers across the local area.
Every EYMS bus has been fitted with a tracker which transmits information about its location. This information is used to calculate how long it will take for a bus to arrive at each stop along its route and allows passengers to see exactly when their bus is due to arrive.
The aim of the service is to improve the passenger experience by making users aware of any delays and reducing waiting times at stops.
Councillor Symon Fraser, cabinet portfolio holder for environment, housing and planning, said: “It is excellent to see new technologies helping passengers to make better use of the network; these improvements will make a difference to residents of the East Riding and Hull.
“These new services have been organised through partnership working with EYMS, using Nextbus, and is an important part of the council’s transport investment to encourage more people to use public transport.”
The Nextbus real-time service can be accessed from a computer or mobile phone with internet access. Visit www.nextbuses.mobi and enter information about your bus stop to receive real-time information for EYMS bus services. A wide range of journey planning apps using the Nextbus service are also available on Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows. The system provides scheduled bus times for passengers travelling on buses not fitted with trackers, using information provided by the council.
The service is completely free to use, apart from any data charges made by your mobile phone operator. Access to the service is subject to the quality of your network connection.
The cost to set up the scheme was met by the council as part of its £1.8 million Local Sustainable Transport Fund project, following a successful funding bid to the Department for Transport. The ongoing annual license costs will be paid for by EYMS.
EYMS has also re-launched its website, www.eyms.co.uk, to feature real-time information about when buses will arrive at its stops. The new site, which has a responsive design meaning that it works equally well on desktop computers, mobiles and tablets, also contains a real-time feed about disruption, so passengers can access up-to-the-minute information about road works, accidents and weather-related issues as they travel around the East Riding.
Bob Brackley, commercial manager of EYMS, said: “Our new website gives passengers access to more bus information than ever before, and should mean that it’s now even easier to travel by bus in the region. We already receive over 100,000 visitors to our website a month and we hope that this will increase now passengers can access real-time information too.”
