#TravelHack2 – Fare Enough

#TravelHack was an incredible success, where more than 80 people helped write Transport for the North’s data strategy.  #TravelHack2 – Fare Enough held in October, focused on the presentation of fare information to customers, expanding on the ideas and explorations from #TravelHack.

Bus fares have been a thorny issue for some time, with competing operators having vastly different pricing structures and ticket types. There is currently no national data standard for fares in the UK. The Bus Services Act should help with this, but in the meantime, TfN have a vision to create a fares dataset for the North. This can then be used by local authorities, transport operators, app developers and anyone else that wants to present fare information to customers.

• TfN, WYCA, and bus operators in the region will be making their data (real and dummy) available for #TravelHack2, so it’s a ripe opportunity to review, challenge, and make things with the data.

• The Department for Transport will also give an update on the Buses Bill, including how data will be used, managed, shared, etc.

Public transport is vital for so many people in the North but it currently doesn’t deliver the standard that could improve everybody’s commute. People arrive at work frazzled and tired from their stressful journey, or families miss the opportunity to visit areas of outstanding beauty because tickets can be prohibitive. There is an incredible amount of potential to be unlocked in the North, with transport being a huge part of that. The unmet need can be tackled, one piece at a time.