Bus schedule texting so popular it will be extended countywide

AN innovative scheme which allows bus passengers to use new technology to keep up to date with journey information is to be extended because of its popularity.

The number of people using Txt 4 Times has risen by more than tenfold in the past few months.

Bus operators Stagecoach and First will now be working with Devon County Council and Traveline to extend the service, which allows passengers to get details of timetables sent to their mobile phone.

By sending a text with the code of the bus stop, Traveline then sends an automated text back with details of the next three services to arrive there.

Each of the 5,700 bus stops in Devon has a code but previously the information could only be found on the Traveline website. Now information is being put up on signs at bus stops throughout the county.

It is estimated it will take between 12 and 18 months to complete the task. Exeter and Plymouth bus stops already have the signs, and Newton Abbot is the next area in line for the work.

In early January, just 200 people a week were texting. This has now risen to 1,500. There was a big rise in users when the signs were put up in Exeter in April.

Most signs do not give real-time information, so passengers won't be able to find out if buses are running late. The only area of Exeter to have this service is the city centre.

But the bus companies, Traveline and the council are now working together to extend real-time information.

Richard Stevens, operations director for Stagecoach Devon, said: "Texting seems to have become part of people's behaviour now but we realise it doesn't suit everybody. As far as we are concerned, anything which makes our timetable more accessible is a good thing and we are very pleased Txt 4 Times has become so popular."

There are 20 bus routes in Exeter and 1,000 in Devon. Each operator has given their timetable to Traveline, which has encoded it and provided the technology to send the texts.

Roy Jeffries, joint chairman of Traveline South West, said: "We haven't got information about who is using the service yet, but we know it's more popular on Monday to Friday rather than the weekend."

Passengers pay their operator costs to send the text to 84268 and the reply is free. It arrives within four to six seconds.

The bus companies, council and Traveline pay for the service. You can find bus stop codes at www.transportdirect.info and then click on "find a map" or by emailing travelinesw@btconnect.com