Went to use the mobile bus countdown website this morning and found it
wanted to redirect me to TfL's shiny new site. This is probably great on
an Android tablet or a Windows 10 PC but it is a disaster on my work
Blackberry. Unfortunately I am stuck with that but use it all the time
to check buses during the day.

For the moment it can still get to the old, largely text site which
works really well but it seems that will be turned off next month. Even
on a modern phone I can see problems with all the extra data to download
as much of Greater London seems to have vast holes in its 3G coverage
(at least on O2) - especially when you are on a bus or train.

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

About a year ago I stopped updating any apps on Android unless warned that it was totally necessary.

Every update to any app makes it worse.

I don't know how this can be, but it is true.

On Tue, 10 May 2016 12:25:19 +0100
MikeS wrote:
Went to use the mobile bus countdown website this morning and found it
wanted to redirect me to TfL's shiny new site. This is probably great on
an Android tablet or a Windows 10 PC but it is a disaster on my work
Blackberry. Unfortunately I am stuck with that but use it all the time
to check buses during the day.

For the moment it can still get to the old, largely text site which
works really well but it seems that will be turned off next month. Even
on a modern phone I can see problems with all the extra data to download
as much of Greater London seems to have vast holes in its 3G coverage
(at least on O2) - especially when you are on a bus or train.

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

They should just save the money and redirect any bus timetable queries to the
fiction section of Waterstones website.

--
Spud

On 10/05/2016 16:00, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Tue, 10 May 2016 12:25:19 +0100, MikeS wrote:

Went to use the mobile bus countdown website this morning and found it
wanted to redirect me to TfL's shiny new site. This is probably great on
an Android tablet or a Windows 10 PC but it is a disaster on my work
Blackberry. Unfortunately I am stuck with that but use it all the time
to check buses during the day.

For the moment it can still get to the old, largely text site which
works really well but it seems that will be turned off next month. Even
on a modern phone I can see problems with all the extra data to download
as much of Greater London seems to have vast holes in its 3G coverage
(at least on O2) - especially when you are on a bus or train.

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

They won't take any notice. I am amazed the old style site has lasted
as long as it has. I use it all the time on my PC and find it nice
and easy to use with clear maps etc. I can't stand the way TfL present
bus and stop info on their main site - takes a thousand clicks to get
to the right info whereas it took about three on the old site. They
were going to scrap the old style Countdown page many, many months ago
but I think they discovered that it worked and the new website didn't
- bus departure times didn't align between the two sites.

I asked them if they would retain the display of the 5 digit stop as
part of the stop info on the new site. Their response, via the TfL
Digital Blog, was to gently "pat me on the head" as if I was some sort
of deluded idiot for being able to remember stop codes and finding
them easier to use than clicking through 5 or 6 layers of data
selection before the info is displayed. Needless to say the TfL
website doesn't show stop codes even though it can recognise them.

I've actually pretty much given up using mobile real time info. I'll
check on the PC before I go out the door but just wait for a bus on
the return leg. I find it less "stressful" than checking a phone every
3 seconds. Clearly the info is very helpful to a lot of mobile but I'm
just not addicted to mobile phones - I haven't switched mine on in
months.

Still the TfL Digital Blog is now the "go to" source for TfL bus
service change info. The IT people now list the changes to the data in
the API so developers know what services have had changes. It was the
only way I discovered that a bus route I use no longer serves Turnpike
Lane bus station. TfL haven't been decent enough to tweet about that,
put out a press release or mention it on their bus service change
document. It's completely ludicrous that a page for App developers has
more relevant passenger info on it than the normal sources of such
info.


Does the text service still work?

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 10/05/2016 14:18, d wrote:

On Tue, 10 May 2016 12:25:19 +0100
MikeS wrote:
Went to use the mobile bus countdown website this morning and found it
wanted to redirect me to TfL's shiny new site. This is probably great on
an Android tablet or a Windows 10 PC but it is a disaster on my work
Blackberry. Unfortunately I am stuck with that but use it all the time
to check buses during the day.

For the moment it can still get to the old, largely text site which
works really well but it seems that will be turned off next month. Even
on a modern phone I can see problems with all the extra data to download
as much of Greater London seems to have vast holes in its 3G coverage
(at least on O2) - especially when you are on a bus or train.

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

They should just save the money and redirect any bus timetable queries to the
fiction section of Waterstones website.


A comment that rather suggests you didn't read, or more likely didn't
understand the original post. It's about live bus times aka Countdown. I
imagine you find the system useless, but only because you've never
actually used it.

On 10/05/2016 17:22, Tony Dragon wrote:

On 10/05/2016 16:00, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Tue, 10 May 2016 12:25:19 +0100, MikeS wrote:

Went to use the mobile bus countdown website this morning and found it
wanted to redirect me to TfL's shiny new site. This is probably great on
an Android tablet or a Windows 10 PC but it is a disaster on my work
Blackberry. Unfortunately I am stuck with that but use it all the time
to check buses during the day.

For the moment it can still get to the old, largely text site which
works really well but it seems that will be turned off next month. Even
on a modern phone I can see problems with all the extra data to download
as much of Greater London seems to have vast holes in its 3G coverage
(at least on O2) - especially when you are on a bus or train.

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

They won't take any notice. I am amazed the old style site has lasted
as long as it has. I use it all the time on my PC and find it nice
and easy to use with clear maps etc. I can't stand the way TfL present
bus and stop info on their main site - takes a thousand clicks to get
to the right info whereas it took about three on the old site. They
were going to scrap the old style Countdown page many, many months ago
but I think they discovered that it worked and the new website didn't
- bus departure times didn't align between the two sites.

I asked them if they would retain the display of the 5 digit stop as
part of the stop info on the new site. Their response, via the TfL
Digital Blog, was to gently "pat me on the head" as if I was some sort
of deluded idiot for being able to remember stop codes and finding
them easier to use than clicking through 5 or 6 layers of data
selection before the info is displayed. Needless to say the TfL
website doesn't show stop codes even though it can recognise them.

I've actually pretty much given up using mobile real time info. I'll
check on the PC before I go out the door but just wait for a bus on
the return leg. I find it less "stressful" than checking a phone every
3 seconds. Clearly the info is very helpful to a lot of mobile but I'm
just not addicted to mobile phones - I haven't switched mine on in
months.

Still the TfL Digital Blog is now the "go to" source for TfL bus
service change info. The IT people now list the changes to the data in
the API so developers know what services have had changes. It was the
only way I discovered that a bus route I use no longer serves Turnpike
Lane bus station. TfL haven't been decent enough to tweet about that,
put out a press release or mention it on their bus service change
document. It's completely ludicrous that a page for App developers has
more relevant passenger info on it than the normal sources of such
info.


Does the text service still work?


Yes. But it costs the user.

On Tue, 10 May 2016 17:50:25 +0100
Mizter T wrote:
On 10/05/2016 14:18, d wrote:

On Tue, 10 May 2016 12:25:19 +0100
MikeS wrote:
Went to use the mobile bus countdown website this morning and found it
wanted to redirect me to TfL's shiny new site. This is probably great on
an Android tablet or a Windows 10 PC but it is a disaster on my work
Blackberry. Unfortunately I am stuck with that but use it all the time
to check buses during the day.

For the moment it can still get to the old, largely text site which
works really well but it seems that will be turned off next month. Even
on a modern phone I can see problems with all the extra data to download
as much of Greater London seems to have vast holes in its 3G coverage
(at least on O2) - especially when you are on a bus or train.

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

They should just save the money and redirect any bus timetable queries to the
fiction section of Waterstones website.


A comment that rather suggests you didn't read, or more likely didn't
understand the original post. It's about live bus times aka Countdown. I
imagine you find the system useless, but only because you've never
actually used it.

Correct - I've never used countdown from a mobile but I assume it uses the
same data as the display at stops which I've often found to be a rough guide
at best. This isn't TfLs fault - they can't help it if a bus gets stuck in
traffic, but it does make the whole bus times system a lot of effort for a
dubious return IMO.

--
Spud

wrote:
On Tue, 10 May 2016 17:50:25 +0100
Mizter T wrote:
On 10/05/2016 14:18, d wrote:

On Tue, 10 May 2016 12:25:19 +0100
MikeS wrote:
Went to use the mobile bus countdown website this morning and found it
wanted to redirect me to TfL's shiny new site. This is probably great on
an Android tablet or a Windows 10 PC but it is a disaster on my work
Blackberry. Unfortunately I am stuck with that but use it all the time
to check buses during the day.

For the moment it can still get to the old, largely text site which
works really well but it seems that will be turned off next month. Even
on a modern phone I can see problems with all the extra data to download
as much of Greater London seems to have vast holes in its 3G coverage
(at least on O2) - especially when you are on a bus or train.

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

They should just save the money and redirect any bus timetable queries to the
fiction section of Waterstones website.


A comment that rather suggests you didn't read, or more likely didn't
understand the original post. It's about live bus times aka Countdown. I
imagine you find the system useless, but only because you've never
actually used it.

Correct - I've never used countdown from a mobile but I assume it uses the
same data as the display at stops which I've often found to be a rough guide
at best. This isn't TfLs fault - they can't help it if a bus gets stuck in
traffic, but it does make the whole bus times system a lot of effort for a
dubious return IMO.

I've used Countdown apps on my phone and find they're usually fairly
accurate. But occasionally a bus seems to be missing from the virtual
world, but turns up anyway. I assume it must be a transponder fault.

On 11/05/2016 10:06, Recliner wrote:
wrote:
On Tue, 10 May 2016 17:50:25 +0100
Mizter T wrote:
On 10/05/2016 14:18, d wrote:

On Tue, 10 May 2016 12:25:19 +0100
MikeS wrote:
Went to use the mobile bus countdown website this morning and found it
wanted to redirect me to TfL's shiny new site. This is probably great on
an Android tablet or a Windows 10 PC but it is a disaster on my work
Blackberry. Unfortunately I am stuck with that but use it all the time
to check buses during the day.

For the moment it can still get to the old, largely text site which
works really well but it seems that will be turned off next month. Even
on a modern phone I can see problems with all the extra data to download
as much of Greater London seems to have vast holes in its 3G coverage
(at least on O2) - especially when you are on a bus or train.

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

They should just save the money and redirect any bus timetable queries to the
fiction section of Waterstones website.


A comment that rather suggests you didn't read, or more likely didn't
understand the original post. It's about live bus times aka Countdown. I
imagine you find the system useless, but only because you've never
actually used it.

Correct - I've never used countdown from a mobile but I assume it uses the
same data as the display at stops which I've often found to be a rough guide
at best. This isn't TfLs fault - they can't help it if a bus gets stuck in
traffic, but it does make the whole bus times system a lot of effort for a
dubious return IMO.

I've used Countdown apps on my phone and find they're usually fairly
accurate. But occasionally a bus seems to be missing from the virtual
world, but turns up anyway. I assume it must be a transponder fault.


I have been on a bus when the driver had a call asking him where he was
as he was not on the system.

He was asked to reboot the system at the next safe place he couls stop.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

"Paul Corfield" wrote

Any suggestions for getting TfL to keep the old site going for those of
us without the latest gizmos and unlimited fast mobile data?

They won't take any notice. I am amazed the old style site has lasted
as long as it has. I use it all the time on my PC and find it nice
and easy to use with clear maps etc. I can't stand the way TfL present
bus and stop info on their main site - takes a thousand clicks to get
to the right info whereas it took about three on the old site. They
were going to scrap the old style Countdown page many, many months ago
but I think they discovered that it worked and the new website didn't
- bus departure times didn't align between the two sites.

I asked them if they would retain the display of the 5 digit stop as
part of the stop info on the new site. Their response, via the TfL
Digital Blog, was to gently "pat me on the head" as if I was some sort
of deluded idiot for being able to remember stop codes and finding

Thanks for the heads up on this. I use countdown a lot from my Kindle's
browser which
is very klunky and can't handle popups so the very users who need to know
about the "unhancement"
are not informed.

Looking at
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/live-bus-arrivals

The bus stop code is still accepted for searching (with an extra "do you
mean"click).

plus the next bus at stop gives the stop number, eg
https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/stop/49000772...+Court+Gardens

For arrival times of the next bus, text 54225 to 87287
==

Further, the new site can still refer you to
http://m.countdown.tfl.gov.uk/

Example stop 48868
https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/stop/40004408016A/zig-zag-road
Live Arrivals
There are no buses due within the next 30 minutes. Please use
http://m.countdown.tfl.gov.uk/ to check the frequency of your service.
==

So if it vanishes there will be red ears.

In the daytime try stop 50120 (which has an hourly (481) service).
https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/stop/49000774...he-kings-field

Which should make a good counter example for the Hoppa fare too.

--
Mike D