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About this site

This website is an improved interface for live bus times in the UK. It works by combining real time updates from local authorities with a searchable database of bus stops across the country. You can search for a bus stop by name, locate it on a map or browse by bus routes or locality to find the stop you need.

If you're on the move, you can also receive updates direct to your mobile through the traveline-txt service. Just find your bus stop on LiveBus.org, note down its SMS phrase (e.g. oxfadaja) and follow the instructions carefully. Messages can cost up to 25p on top of your operator's usual SMS charges, so make sure you fully understand the terms.

If live updates aren't available or convenient, most routes also link to scheduled timetables, courtesy of traveline.

LiveBus.org is not affiliated with traveline, any local authorities, bus companies, or the Department for Transport and is freely provided as an alternative to existing services.

The maps are not yet working in Internet Explorer.

I'd love to hear your comments.

Colophon

This site is running on a custom web application built with Python and the Django framework. It talks to a PostgreSQL database over psycopg and is served by Apache with mod_python running on a Debian virtual private server at RimuHosting.

All code is developed in Textmate and version-controlled with Subversion. Screens lovingly scraped with the help of BeautifulSoup.

The data comes from various sources:

• Localities: National Public Transport Gazetter (NPTG)
• Stops: National Public Transport Access Nodes (NaPTAN)
• Routes: Local authorities: Oxfordshire, Surrey
• Times: Local authorities
• Timetables: Traveline
• Mapping: Google Maps API

Awards

Winner of the Young Innovator Award at the New Statesman New Media Awards 2007