Bus info to come... years from now...

I wonder how much it would have cost to have just bought TramTracker (and adapted), or simply released the data in open source and let some bright developers compete to make the best app (rather than whatever staid app ACTION are likely to come out with).

One really does wonder given (as already posted) they haven’t even managed to do much with their static timetable data…

damien haas said :

A private organisation (the MyBus people) was planning on doing this for *free* and action wont supply the data, but are willing to *pay* $12 MILLION to do it in THREE YEARS time ?

Those point to point cameras cant come in quick enough to finance this.

Sounds a bit like the way Revolve – a local, not for profit charity – was kicked out of Mugga Lane tip and replaced by shady Gold Coast outfit Aussie Junk (what an appropriate name!) which promptly went broke within a year. When bureaucratic pride rears its ugly head, no amount of rationality or commonsense will counter it.

molongloid said :

Madness! Where do I find the requests for tender on these things?

http://www.procurement.act.gov.au/

The contract is there but the RFT isn’t. According to http://www.onbid.org/bids/ICT-Consultancy-Real-Time-Passenger.sq6019611.htm it closed last December.

Madness! Where do I find the requests for tender on these things? The ANU MyBus solution has been mentioned. Our lab is booked out with US jobs at the moment but would like to submit for work like this in the future to have a local client base. 6 figures not 8 figures surely. The government is incompetent for getting it wrong by orders of magnitude. Who are their technical advisors?

‘Crimes’ update from the MyBus Imagine team:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/students-offered-bus-tracking-months-ago/2215353.aspx
I seriously wonder what other deperately needed projects could be ticked off the Govt list with the better part of this $12m….? Meanwhile, rego et al went up on 1 July…..

The systems really are useful, the ones in europe for buses, trams etc are great. Thing is i’m guessing we’ll only get LCD displays at interchanges… Still would be great if they fixed the main reason nobody catches the buses and that is how long it takes to get from A to B.

damien haas said :

A private organisation (the MyBus people) was planning on doing this for *free* and action wont supply the data, but are willing to *pay* $12 MILLION to do it in THREE YEARS time ?

Those point to point cameras cant come in quick enough to finance this.

It does seem extremely unfortunate that a faster method to something usable – even as a stop-gap -can’t/won’t be used due to ‘politics’ or typical PS bureaucracy dithering…. 🙁
Especially as it would cost taxpayers less! Sigh…

Is ACTION able to be hit with an FoI request for current (static) route, stop and timetable information in machine readable format?

A private organisation (the MyBus people) was planning on doing this for *free* and action wont supply the data, but are willing to *pay* $12 MILLION to do it in THREE YEARS time ?

Those point to point cameras cant come in quick enough to finance this.

>can’t they just slap up an iPhone app in the medium term

… or they could just finish the Google Transit integration that was first announced to go live in _June 2009_:
http://google-au.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-australia-opens-doors-to-our-new.html
“public transit information for […] Canberra’s bus network (ACTION buses) will be available in Google Maps later in June”

To achieve that, all ACTION needs to do is give accurate timetable data to Google in a standard format. Then it would “just work” with most smartphones (including iPhone), and with Google Maps in regular web browsers.

… or they could give their timetable data to the MyBus students, who already made an app:
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/01/21/3118300.htm

One has to ask: If ACTION doesn’t have accurate computer-readable _static_ timetable & stop location data in 2009 or in 2011, what are the realistic chances of having accurate dynamic realtime data in 2013? You have to walk before you can run.