More buses in real time across Calabria
We changed how we read bus positions from the regional service: at the same time of day we now see about a third more buses, with line, route along the road and delay, in every province.
Published on · 2 min read
Passa il bus shows where out-of-town buses are thanks to the data the regional service collects from the on-board devices of the bus companies. Until now, though, some of those buses stayed invisible, even while they were sending their position.
From today, we can see them.
What has changed
Buses we could not find in the timetable. Many real trips use a code that differs from the published regional timetable, or run on a different day than planned. They used to be left off the map: now they show up, with the right line and the route drawn along the road.
Buses set to the wrong trip. Sometimes the previous trip of the same line is still set on board. We notice it by comparing the position with the timetable, and we put the bus back on the trip it is actually running.
Delays and next stops for these trips too. The delay is worked out along the road, as for every other trip, and tapping the bus shows the expected time at each stop.
Faster updates. When a bus position reaches the regional service, it appears on the map within a few seconds.
How many more buses
On Monday 5 October, between 14:45 and 15:30, the map showed on average 214 buses tracked through the regional service. At the same time on the weekdays of the previous week, the average was 158: 35% more. In the morning, before the changes, the numbers matched the previous week, so the difference comes from the new system.
The increase covers the whole region. At the same time, for example, Romano goes from 18 to 24 buses on the map, Federico from 76 to 83, Consorzio Autolinee from 16 to 21, Mediterraneabus from 7 to 12, Preite from 5 to 10, Costa Viola from 5 to 8 and Genco from 2 to 7.
What we still cannot see
The map only shows buses that send their position. Many buses do not do so yet, or have their on-board device switched off: for those trips we keep showing the scheduled time, marked as from the timetable. When a company switches its devices on, its buses appear automatically, with no app update needed.
Where
On the map in your browser at mappa.passailbus.it, in the iPhone app and in the Android app, which is in testing. Like the rest of Passa il bus, it is free, with no ads and no sign-up.
If you see a bus in the wrong place or on the wrong line, write to us: every report helps us improve.