Open Data

Open data is data that has been made available to the public for personal, educational or commercial use. It is usually released under an open data license, such as the Open Government License Version 3.0.

Many public transport operators release their data as open data. Certain datasets must be released to the public under UK law – this currently includes TransXChange. From 2020 onwards, this will also include information about fares and vehicle locations, which comes from Automatic Vehicle Location systems.

In 2020, the Department for Transport launched a new service called the Bus Open Data Service, BODS for short. It will become the main online directory of data about buses in England.

A good source of open data in GTFS format, covering UK-based public transport operators, is Passenger’s open data website.