FindMe

FindMe is a geolocation application that arose out of a Hacks and Hackers day in Leeds back in 2009. The purpose of the event was essentially to market a data scraping package by encouraging people to work with large datasets. For my particular dataset I decided to use the NaPTAN set of public transport data, with an emphasis on buses in West Yorkshire but with links to the Transport Direct mobile rail website as well.

West Yorkshire Metro uses a system called Acis Live for their online Next Bus service which is OK, but it has a lot of unused potential. One of the most useful features is that you don't actually need to be at the stop to find out when a bus leaves. A lot of bus services run on parallel routes so there might be half an hour until the next bus at one stop, and 10 minutes until one at a different stop that's a few minutes walk away and going in roughly the same direction. Saves having to wait in the rain. However, not everyone keeps a list of stop codes to hand. The stop may have a printed timetable but these aren't always particularly reliable.

What FindMe does is find your location using geolocation and then display the top 20 nearest bus stops and 10 nearest railway stations on a map. Within West Yorkshire bus stops are linked to their Next Bus system so you can see when the next one is due. If there's a long wait, try a nearby stop instead.

Find Me!

Disclaimer

Bus stop and railway location information may be out of date. Services are withdrawn and routes change all the time. Stops shown on the map may not exist and new ones may have been added since the last data load. Web-based geolocation is not an exact science and you may be located some distance from where you actually are

Privacy

This is a geolocation application. As part of the process your current location will be passed to this web server and may be stored in the server logs. However it will not be used for any other purpose.

Copyright

FindMe Copyright © 2009 - 2013 by Marcus Houlden

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2011

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.