Bristol’s biggest bus operator has admitted that its ‘live bus’ function on its app, which tells passengers waiting at stops when the next bus is coming, is actually only a ‘legacy prediction’ of when the timetable says a bus is supposed to be arriving.
First Bus have now clarified that the ‘live bus’ tracker on its app is simply what is supposed to be happening according to the timetable, and not an actual representation of whether the bus is on the road approaching within minutes.
It is only when the passenger waiting at a bus stop using the ‘live bus tracker’ on the app taps on the bus on their phone screen will they discover if the bus is real or not - if it’s real it will show how many seats are free and where it is on the road, and if it doesn’t actually exist, it won’t show up on the app at all.
Read more: Buses face 'toxic mix of challenges' amid crisis
The admission comes as the driver shortage crisis grows for First Bus with frustrated passengers taking to Twitter to voice their frustrations at waiting at bus stops for buses that never arrive.
It was only through the forensic questioning of a group of passengers on Twitter that a spokesperson for the company on its social media channel acknowledged the reality behind the ‘live bus app tracker’ function on its app.
One passenger, @nemof, asked on Twitter: “Why do your live services on your app, marked as due and as live, vanish. Either they're there or they aren't. Why do you advertise stuff that isn't real on your app.” First Bus responded by acknowledging that the live bus tracker on the app is merely a representation of what is supposed to be happening, according to the timetable, and not an up-to-the-minute information service of actual buses. “‘Live’ times are a prediction based on the schedule,” First replied. “When a service shows ‘live’ it will allow you to track a bus using the 'bus on a map' feature which will show where the bus is in live time. If it doesn't show here, it is unlikely to be running,” they added.
For clarification, they asked: “Are you saying that Live buses on the app are not really tracking real buses, that they are just predictions based on a buses schedule?” And First admitted this was the case, and it is only if the bus’s details and position is still there when it’s tapped on, will it be a real bus. “Yes, but when the service shows as 'live', it'll allow you to tap on it and track the bus live on the map,” they said.
This intricate notion, of a bus being marked as ‘live’, which may or may not be live shows remarkable similarities with the famed philosophical thought experiment posed by the physicist Erwin Schrodinger.
Schrodinger proposed that a cat be placed in a box with a flask of poison and a radioactive source. If the radioactive source decays, a Geiger counter is triggered and the flask is shattered - thus poisoning the cat.
Schrodinger pointed out that, without looking in the box, you would never know whether the flask had been shattered and the cat was still alive or not, so the cat was somehow both alive and dead at the same time, while just looking at the box.
In a remarkably similar way, First’s ‘live bus’ tracking app function shows buses that may or may not exist in real life, and only by tapping on the bus - or opening the box - will you find out if there actually is a bus coming or not.
Another Twitter user was understandably confused by First’s answer. “I am confused,” they wrote. “When the service shows as 'Live', does that mean that the buses *real* position is tracked, e.g. by GPS?” And another customer added their confusion to the mix: “Like a lot of your customers I’m very confused about the contradictory replies above. Last night my bus was showing as live but it clearly didn’t operate. Can you be really clear: if it’s showing as ‘live’ does that mean it’s DEFINITELY operating, or just that it might be?” they asked.
And First then clarified to say that the ‘live’ bus function wasn’t really a live bus function, unless you use it as an individual live bus function. “When our buses are marked as 'live' on the app, the time shown is legacy data from service predictions,” a First spokesperson replied. “When you select that 'live' service, it then shows the bus on the app, which you can track as it travels,” he added.
“So if I select a live bus and it doesn’t show, then that means it probably isn’t coming,” the passenger replied. “I don’t know which dictionary you’re using for the definition of ‘live’, but can I suggest it might create less confusion for customers if this simply said ‘predicted’,” they added.
The issue for the 'live bus tracker' on the app mirrors the 'ghost bus' phenomenon of the information boards at bus stops, that First Bus apologised for last November. This saw passengers complain that buses would be listed on the electronic real-time information boards hanging from the roof of bus stops, only for the bus to not arrive when it was listed as 'due', and then disappear from the board.
Back then First West of England said it was accelerating the introduction of technology to make the information passengers waiting for buses had was improving. A spokesperson for First West of England said at the time: "Firstly, we apologise to any customers who are being inconvenienced by the non-arrival of a scheduled service.
"As is being experienced across the bus industry, we have seen varying levels of driver shortages over the last few weeks at First West of England, similar to other road transport businesses. We have accelerated the introduction of a new technology that provides customers with the means to see via both the app and the real time information (RTI) boards at bus stops information of any journeys that have been cancelled, again, remove some of the current uncertainty."
First Bus said it is doing "everything we can to maintain a comprehensive network of services that supports our customers and our communities". Its spokesperson added: "The majority of routes are running normally although we have made temporary timetable adjustments for some routes to ensure a reliable service and minimise disruption."
Read next:
- WECA accused of wasting £8m on new Bristol HQ after Yate "snub"
- Major First Bus changes in Bristol begin today - full list of services affected
- First confirm 178 bus service will be scrapped
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