Meeting with Simon Corbell (and yet another Market Update)

Gershwin said :

Ah, I thought the tech was in place. I stand corrected. Fairy’s nuts then.

I don’t know why patrick_keogh seems to think the majority of the cost is going towards hardware. GPS’s are in place now and used by the MyWay ticketing system. The tender isn’t even at a stage to say that most of the cost is going towards hardware.

Thanks for the support however, like us, you seem to find it fairly obvious that smartphones would, if nothing, reduce the cost of having to install displays at bus stops everywhere.

Ah, I thought the tech was in place. I stand corrected. Fairy’s nuts then.

Gershwin said :

I appreciate the work that has gone into this app, and use it often. I have a suspicion that the actual reason why the Real Time Passenger Information System is not being made immediately available is that that leads to ready analysis of performance against published timetables. I suspect there will be much cultural change in ACTION behind the scenes to prepare the network for pubically accountable, verifiable performance information.

And a mobile app is not currently part of the tender? Oh, okay, I’ll just duck back home to see where the bus is at, no worries then, Mr Corbell. Oh, hang on, I may need to catch a bus to do that…

You are probably right about cultural change, however a big stumbling block to releasing the real time data is that THEY DON’T HAVE IT. The tender includes the installation of GPS devices and other data collection capabilities (engine monitoring, panic alarm, perhaps even passenger load and how many bicycles are on the bike rack) on each and every bus, together with a mobile wireless data facility to communicate this data to a central facility. That is over 200 buses. The hardware and software to run in the buses is a significant part of the overall cost of the project.

So even with the best of intentions they couldn’t do it today.

Yeah, this would be a lifesaver if only it were out for my iphone already. Very much looking foward to its release.

I appreciate the work that has gone into this app, and use it often. I have a suspicion that the actual reason why the Real Time Passenger Information System is not being made immediately available is that that leads to ready analysis of performance against published timetables. I suspect there will be much cultural change in ACTION behind the scenes to prepare the network for pubically accountable, verifiable performance information.

And a mobile app is not currently part of the tender? Oh, okay, I’ll just duck back home to see where the bus is at, no worries then, Mr Corbell. Oh, hang on, I may need to catch a bus to do that…

Gershwin said :

shneyney123 said :

No, you weren’t mistaken, or no, you don’t continue to hold your assertion?

No, we were not mistaken. Thank you for pointing that out.

dvaey said :

The meeting was positive, with Simon confirming the government’s position that bus data should be made available Open Source.

Out of interest, are you trying to convince Simon to release the data under the new OSM ODbL licence, or the more generally accepted Creative Commons licence? ‘Open Source’ doesnt really apply to data. ODbL would mean the data can be exclusively used in OSM, whereas a Creative Commons licence would bring it in line with all other data released by government departments, but make it incompatible with OSM.

Also, as a few others have suggested, plenty of users have already put bus information into OSM for Canberra. Will you be utilising that information, or starting from scratch?

We have yet to flesh out the details of any release the data, and to my knowledge we are merely consultants, and ultimately do not decide the licensing surrounding any such release. We anticipate asking for something akin to creative licence, but would appreciate any advice.
Our new update leverages an effort by the community to map bus stops, and we aim to use any other information available. Once again, any feedback is appreciated

The meeting was positive, with Simon confirming the government’s position that bus data should be made available Open Source.

Out of interest, are you trying to convince Simon to release the data under the new OSM ODbL licence, or the more generally accepted Creative Commons licence? ‘Open Source’ doesnt really apply to data. ODbL would mean the data can be exclusively used in OSM, whereas a Creative Commons licence would bring it in line with all other data released by government departments, but make it incompatible with OSM.

Also, as a few others have suggested, plenty of users have already put bus information into OSM for Canberra. Will you be utilising that information, or starting from scratch?

shneyney123 said :

patrick_keogh said :

So you still believe your assertion in another thread that “…ACT Government’s 12.5 million dollar tender, most of which was set aside to do what we had offered for free a couple months ago to the TAMS”? or were you mistaken?

No.

No, you weren’t mistaken, or no, you don’t continue to hold your assertion?

patrick_keogh said :

So you still believe your assertion in another thread that “…ACT Government’s 12.5 million dollar tender, most of which was set aside to do what we had offered for free a couple months ago to the TAMS”? or were you mistaken?

No.

aidan said :

This is probably a faq, but any chance of an iPhone/iPod version?

Yes! We fully intend to work on an iOS port of our app, we are prioritizing our engagements with the government. Stay tuned, and thanks for your support!

So you still believe your assertion in another thread that “…ACT Government’s 12.5 million dollar tender, most of which was set aside to do what we had offered for free a couple months ago to the TAMS”? or were you mistaken?