TfL opens doors to its data

Dawinderpal Sahota, Computing, Wednesday 16 June 2010 at 10:03:00

Transport for London makes new information about tube, bus and river
services available to the public

Transport for London
(TfL) is making a wealth of new information about London's tube, bus and river
services available for public use.

Web developers can use the data to create products such as mobile phone apps
to help commuters.

Developers can now use the data for commercial gain without having to obtain
TfL's permission first. By using TfL's Developers' Area, web developers can
access a number of data sets and feeds to live London Underground travel news on
London's Datastore. The Datastore is where the Greater London Authority releases
all its data for Londoners to see and use free of charge

Transport-related information currently in the Datastore includes planned
weekend tube works, station locations, River Thames pier locations and Oyster
ticket stop locations.

TfL will continue to offer basic information about its services free of
charge to the public on its web site, but it hopes the move will encourage
developers to create a wider range of high-quality services and applications.

Chris MacLeod, TfL's director of group marketing, said: "We want to harness
the innovative ideas in the developer community to provide improved information
which will benefit all transport users.

"Therefore it is vital that Transport for London provides transparent
information to the public and allows developers to use data to create
smart-technology solutions."

By the end of June, developers will also be able to find information on bus
routes and bus stops as well as data from London Underground's Rolling Origin
and Destination Survey. Data on bus timetables and schedules will follow.

Full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2264799/tfl-opens-doors