This feature explains the difference between scheduled and ‘real time’ bus departures.

The old joke about waiting for a bus for an hour then three turn up at once has probably been around since Queen Victoria was on the throne and is still used today – it’s even elsewhere on this website in a news feature about the Bus Champions - but times change and thanks to the rollout of Real Time Information (RTI) display boards at many of Derbyshire’s bus stops and interchanges, you should know the whereabouts of your next bus, and maybe the one after that, which is nice to know if it’s already past its scheduled arrival time.

What’s the difference between Real Time Information (RTI) and scheduled information?

For an explanation of all things RTI, check out this Travel Derbyshire feature but in brief an RTI display aims to gives a predicted ‘real time’ arrival time for the next buses to call at that stop. It’s based on factors such as the approaching bus’s current GPS location, its speed and the road conditions ahead of it.

This is different to a bus’s scheduled arrival/departure time which is often seen displayed as a printed copy at the bus stops and is often referred to as a timetable.

This information is also published by each bus service operator on their web site. Scheduled Information for ALL bus services in Derbyshire is also available online here - Public Transport in Derbyshire & the Peak District. These are based on what times a bus should arrive at the stop and shows all the planned times throughout the week that the service will operate.

Most RTI displays will also show some of these scheduled bus times if either the ‘Real Time’ data flow is interrupted or if the service is more than an hour in the future. This is because the bus service predictions are only produced for services within the next hour. Generally, the next one or two scheduled services are also displayed on screen.

Who draws up the timetable?

On commercial services the operator decides on the times and frequency of its buses. There are set timing points on a bus route (the times which show in the timetables as opposed to all the in between stops).  These are the times the bus must try and adhere to.  They can be varied according to time of day where peak hours mean the service would be delayed but some services with very regular times try and build this in.

Some bus routes are classified as ‘Supported Services’. These are still operated and timetabled by commercial operators, but they are financed by the local authority and are sponsored to provide a public transport service at times and to locations that are currently not commercially viable. (We’ll expand on this in another Travel Derbyshire feature soon)

What counts as a late running bus?

Buses should legally adhere to timing point stops even if they have arrived early.  On the other in-between stops, it is permitted for the bus to depart up to (and no more) than one minute early and up to five minutes late. Bus operators regularly submit data to the council, including figures relating to punctuality so a consistently late running bus would be flagged up and any issues causing this would be addressed.   

If a commercial service continually doesn’t meet its times, it would be up to the operator to request to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) via a Registration Variation to change the times.

How can I comment on a bus route or service?

The Derbyshire Bus Passenger Charter sets out what you can expect from your local bus services and who to contact if the service falls short of these standards.

Bus operators and the Council aim to get your journey right every time, but if we don’t and you need to report a service issue, please contact the relevant operator directly.

The Bus Passenger Charter and contact details for bus operators in Derbyshire can be found on the relevant Travel Derbyshire page Report a Service Issue - Travel Derbyshire where you can also get in touch with Derbyshire County Council’s public transport team or raise an issue directly with the relevant bus operator.

We hope you’ve found this information helpful. If you’d like us to go into more detail for any other bus related topic, please email mailto:travel.derbyshire@derbyshire.gov.uk or leave a comment on the Travel Derbyshire Facebook page.

(Written by Mark Sheldon, with additional technical information from Rob Fryer)