Seeing as WTTs TTNs are now provided is there a plan to (or already ) have an API that allows us to know what timetable will be used on any given day? Also an API to know which lines a affected by planned engineering work in advance (at least 4 weeks for example).
As a train operator I can read the traffic circular but others don’t have that ability. So how would they know which of the currently available timetables are in operation?
It would also be useful to know this for the published bus working timetables. While it is obvious from the day code (incorporated in the file name) for most days of the year, it is far from obvious which timetables operate around Christmas (day code sMT or sMF or sFr or sSa). There must be some resource somewhere which enables Journey Planner to pick the right data for the right day and it would be useful if this were to be visible to users.
I think the problem is the people who provide the data do not consider its use as an end user. Would have hoped that this forum would have assisted in that but sadly not so
As users of these data I think we have to remember two things. First, the assorted information systems were created to enable TfL to do their main job of getting the services run properly. Secondly, many of those systems are probably quite old and predate the whole Open Data thing. They may not even contain some data which would be useful to end users, or if they do it is in a form that might be difficult to make available. If what they have works for TfL, I don’t think it would be reasonable to expect work top be done on enhancing the sources with information which is not actually operationally necessary.
The potential of Open Data is now appreciated. As systems come up for replacement it may well become easier to build in features or data which are primarily of use to the end user. This longer term aspect is one that the Forum could help nudging things towards, though at the moment anything of that nature may well get lost in the more short term postings about such-and-such not working or errors in the data and of course the very valuable postings advising on how to extract what you want.
See the thread “Countdown not informed of closures”.
PLANNED is the problem - unlike railways, road works are planned by a large number of different agencies and rarely go to plan. Half the road being dug up will delay buses at the new traffic lights while the whole road will cause a diversion.
On top of that you have the issue I have explained in other threads - the enormous folly of outsourcing which sets system specifications in stone at the time of commissioning, so we have little hope of improvement, whether or not the right people in TFL read this.