Transport for London (TfL) operates one of the largest bus networks in the world consisting of over 19,000 bus stops and approximately 700 routes served by some 8500 buses daily.
We recently made available a new static dataset which provides an estimate of bus passenger boardings, alightings and loadings on a typical day on TfL’s bus network. The BUSTO dataset is published annually and represents the travel demand on the bus network on a typical weekday, Saturday and Sunday. Data is available for all routes except school and mobility routes.
Background and purpose
Transport for London produces the BUSTO dataset each year to provide an understanding of customer usage and travel patterns on its bus network. This detailed dataset is the best available estimate of bus boardings, alightings and loadings on a typical day. TfL uses this dataset to assess bus service provision, demand profiles and customer experience, as well as inform service planning and performance measurement.
BUSTO is based on observed passenger data from autumn each year, which is a typical period within the busiest time of year on London’s public transport networks. None of the values is a count of individual passengers on any particular day; rather they are averages over the period in question. The figures are presented to high resolution (i.e., each bus stop for each 15 minute period in each day type). The figures are sometimes therefore low absolute values (e.g., if 100 people use a bus stop on a typical day then the average quarter hour value is 1.2 passengers). Noninteger values are provided to best represent the average or typical value.
Coverage and features
The datasets represent the travel demand on the bus network on three day types: a typical weekday (Monday-Friday), Saturday and Sunday. BUSTO is based on ticketing data recorded between November and December. This period of autumn each year is most representative of typical travel on the network as demand is usually at its highest, and is it least affected by seasonality effects including school holidays. Data is provided for every 15-minute period throughout each of the three day types.
BUSTO uses ticketing data from Oyster and Contactless Payment Card (CPC) transactions generated from the ticket machines onboard buses, in addition to data from the iBus Automatic Vehicle Location system. The data also is scaled to account for users of paper tickets, nonvalidation and customers who are not required to touch in upon boarding. This ensures all customer trips are accounted for.
Where can you find this data?
You can find it under BUSTO/ on http://crowding.data.tfl.gov.uk/ along with other network statistics related datasets. Please remember to sign up to our Transport Data Service terms and conditions before using our open data.
What format is it in?
A series of static .csv files.
How it will be maintained?
The data will be updated annually.
Further information about the BUSTO dataset (and some examples of how it can be used) is available in the BUSTO User Guide and Data Dictionary.
