SotonBus app provides real-time info for local bus transport
ECS students Ash Browning and John Isger have produced a new app which provides real-time bus information in the Southampton area.
SotonBus covers all major bus operators in Southampton and provides real-time information on when the next buses are due at a particular bus stop, as well as pinpointing where you are in the city to help you find the nearest stop.
The app was designed last summer when Ash and John were employed as University Interns on the Southampton Learning Environment (SLE) project. They worked under the direction of Professor Hugh Davis and Dr Su White of ECS, who are leading the SLE project, and collaborated with Southampton City Council and Nic Burns of the Southampton ROMANSE traffic project.
âThe only requirement for our internship was to produce a real-time bus application for the iPhoneâ?, said Ash, âbut when we started neither of us had iPhones!
âIn the future, weâd like to have static âofflineâ timetables on the application, as well as route planning and a way to display bus routes on a map.â?
Dr Su White, Senior Lecturer in Electronics and Computer Science, who oversaw the project said: âOur students have again shown their ability to develop a concept to produce an extremely useful tool.
âIncreasingly, people need clever technology to help them navigate their complex lives and this application does just that. This app has been developed based on the talents of our students and the application of our research knowledge to improve our local community for the better.â?
Ash and John are both students on the MEng Computer Science course in ECS; John graduates this summer, and Ash graduates in 2012. The SotonBus app is free to download from the iTunes store, and has already been downloaded over 300 times.