The National Intermodal Journey Planner (NIJP)

[Colm Moore]

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/proj...urney-planner/

Yes, its a mouthful, but they seem to be planning a much simpler name.

We have very limited access to the beta (i.e. incomplete) version.

Does anyone have a wacky journey they would like to try?

Does anyone want to try it themselves? NTA may require real name and e-mail, but hold the horses just for the moment.

[Colm Moore]

OK, I've got to play with it for the last 24 hours.

I found it much happier on a desktop than on my 2.5-year old netbook.

It does come up with novel solutions, that might be counter-intuitive and Irish people might be sceptical, e.g. Rathmines-Airport via Red Cow - the risk however is making the connection to Dublin Coach at Red Cow.

They are happy that we share it with the group, but we need to coordinate the response, so as to not drown the NJIP team in queries.

So I think they way we will do it is send me an e-mail at colm.moore@railusers.ie and I'll send you the document with the website, password and survey.

Feel free to play with it to the point of breaking it (without hacking it )

[Colm Moore]

So, I've been playing with this for nearly a week now. It considers pretty much every type of surface transport - options for train, tram, bus, coach, ferry, taxi and walking, although they're not quite sure what to do with the country's one cable car.

The planner is time sensitive, so that if you ask for a trip to the airport at 4am, you might get quite a different answer to the same enquiry at 4pm.

Aside from more than 200 rail stations, it has more than 12,000 bus stops, and 100,000km of roads. The real challenge is likely to be getting the data right and ensuring that all appropriate means of access are considered, so as to give the passenger the best options.

Depending on the journey, it normally returns about 4-5 train/tram/bus options and one taxi option or a combination thereof. It can plan a trip (admittedly a minority sport) from Dursey Island in west Cork all the way to west Donegal, although I have to warn you, it is a 15 hour trip.

Feel free to drop me an e-mail to try this out.

[Colm Moore]

This is public now.

http://www.journeyplanner.transportforireland.ie/

Android app https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...elandCompanion

[Colm Moore]

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/news...forireland-ie/

New national, multi-operator Journey Planner now live at TransportforIreland.ie
27/06/12

The National Transport Authority’s new online National Journey Planner is now live at TransportforIreland.ie. It helps people plan journeys, door-to-door, anywhere in Ireland, using public transport. The Planner covers bus, rail, tram, taxis, ferries and walking – 120 operators in total – with fully mapped-out route information, printable timetables and details of overall journey times – all in one place.

For more information see here

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-c...-NTA-site1.doc

Ireland’s first national Journey Planner now live:
TransportforIreland.ie

Minister Alan Kelly TD welcomes development,
encourages public feed-back on local trip details and short-cuts

Door-to-door travel options across all public and licensed transport
across the country to help people plan their journeys

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

Public and Commuter Transport Minister Alan Kelly T.D. today (June 27, 2012) announced that the National Transport Authority’s new online National Journey Planner is now live and available for use at TransportforIreland.ie or with new Apps for Android and iPhone mobile devices. The service will help people plan their personal journeys from door-to-door, anywhere in Ireland, using public transport, and is the first of its kind in Ireland.

The Planner covers bus, rail, tram, taxis, ferries and walking – 120 operators in total – with fully mapped-out route information, printable timetables and details of overall journey times – all in one place.

While this is a significant new step in providing the public with fully integrated and accessible transport information, the National Transport Authority is actively encouraging people to use its specially created online Feedback channel to give specific feedback around their use of the Planner, and their opinion on its “look and feel” so that the service can continue to grow and improve.

The new Journey Planner takes account of over 9,600 bus stops across Ireland, 750 different routes, 152 train stations, and route and timetable information from 120 different transport providers. The location of footpaths, laneways, short-cuts, one way systems and QBC contraflows are also taken into account in the options being suggested to users.

Minister Alan Kelly said: “I welcome this major new development. I would encourage people to use it and to give their feedback. For the first time there is a one-stop-shop information point for all licensed and contracted public transport providers making planning journeys much easier. It is a real step forward in integrating public transport information for users.

“Nothing of this scope and extent has ever been available in Ireland before; we are now one of the few countries in Europe with a multi-operator service on a national basis. If people know of short cuts or walkways that are not covered in this map then it is important they give their feedback as the system has been developed to allow for the necessary input from the public.

“This Journey Planner adds to recently launched initiatives including real time information, electronic bus stop signs, the Leap card and bus fleet improvements which enhance the overall quality of public transport services.”

In the months ahead, the system will be integrated with the National Transport Authority’s Real Time Passenger Information service to provide immediate arrival information for all Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann stops across the country, as well as Luas and DART commuter services in Dublin. A cycle planner is currently being developed, initially for the Greater Dublin Area, and a special accessibility feature on the site, to assist those with mobility impairment. A new feature for Tour-Buses and their routes and services will be developed.

Gerry Murphy, Chief Executive, National Transport Authority, said: “The National Journey Planner brings together a very complex web of timetables, routes, stations, stops and terminus locations for multiple public transport providers into a single information service for everyone to use. People specify their origin and destination details and the time of their trip and they are given a short-list of up to six different options to get there.

“We have done a lot of work, incorporating all existing data-sets to bring the system to this stage, where we’re ready to present it to the public. The next stage requires input from members of the public. We really want to know about local walkways, links and barriers that we haven’t been able to pick up. We want to know how people feel about using the site – is it as clear as they want? Do they like it? Could it be better? An important Feedback channel has been set up to capture this input on TransportforIreland.ie, and we are encouraging members of the public to tell us about anything at all that we’ve overlooked. Our special technical team will be incorporating this important user information as they update and improve the Planner over the coming months.

“There are many additional services incorporated in the Journey Planner, whereby people can tailor-make journey options to suit their personal preferences. People can use the Advanced Settings feature to customise their walking time and speed, their willingness to make interchanges between services, or their preference for one travel mode over others. All operators’ timetables are available to view and print, as are descriptions and PDF maps of the walking links to services. Major attractions across the country, including museums, historic house and gardens, and beaches are also searchable – as origins or destinations – for day-trips.”

The National Transport Authority is also looking at the best means of incorporating the Rural Transport Programme into the National Journey Planner. There are currently 35 transport providers for this service. A pilot scheme is now underway with Clare Accessible Transport to test how demand responsive services can interchange with fixed route services.

The Authority is committed to an open approach to data, in line with the eGov Strategy 2012 and the Re-Use of PSI Directive. The best available data has been collected for use in the Journey Planner and open collaboration with the public will continue to drive that. The Authority will also offer the opportunity to the community of collaborators, designers and developers to make the most of the data available, after this public feedback phase is complete.


Ends

[James Howard]

Seems a colossal waste of money to me.

It seems to send you the whole way by taxi rather than suggesting a taxi to the nearest point where you can get public transport.

My example: Ardagh Village, Longford, to UCD always gives me "Take a Taxi" the whole way rather than saying take a taxi to Edgeworthstown and catch a Longford/Sligo/Ballina bus or a Sligo train.

I can probably play around with settings to achieve this but the defaults are wrong.

[James Howard]

It doesn't look to me as if it is quite finished yet. It is now giving somewhat more sensible results such as taking a taxi to the nearest train station although it is suggesting that I walk six miles to a bus-stop (which I can apparently do in 11 minutes). I must be fitter than I thought. This is probably without luggage.

[Colm Moore]

I think it may be the modelling of the connections to Longford station need to be looked at.

Originally Posted by James Howard

It doesn't look to me as if it is quite finished yet. It is now giving somewhat more sensible results such as taking a taxi to the nearest train station although it is suggesting that I walk six miles to a bus-stop (which I can apparently do in 11 minutes). I must be fitter than I thought. This is probably without luggage.

Yeah, I had a similar problem once, where it seems a taxi was intended, but it said walk.

[Colm Moore]

It seems the iPhone app is now available.‏

http://www.railusers.ie/forum/attach...d=134113651 0

[Kilocharlie]

Originally Posted by Colm Moore

It seems the iPhone app is now available.‏

http://www.railusers.ie/forum/attach...d=134113651 0

And Android...https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...elandCompanion

[Colm Moore]

There has been an upgrade ongoing over the weekend.

The look of the page has changed and some features prioritised or de-prioritised.

The mapping has also changed somewhat - some changes won't happen until Monday.

[comcor]

It's still giving a time of 65 mins for a journey that takes me 30 mins every morning because it doesn't believe the bus connection I do is possible. I have given details to them. This is not going to encourage public transport use.

[Sealink]

I used this when I was in Donegal last month and it was a lifesaver.

One thing that I noticed - and this seems to be with ALL Journey Planners - is the difficulty of identifying the end destination.

So I would get results like Donegal to Killybegs:

17:30 at Donegal (Abbey Hotel) Donegal
Bus take Bus 492 towards Dungloe operated by BUS EIREANN
18:00 to Main Street Killybegs
18:00 from Main Street Killybegs
Footpath Footpath (about 17 minutes)
18:17 to Killybegs

Surely Main Street Killybegs is the destination? This further 17 minute walk seems odd!

[Colm Moore]

It seems most of the changes are largely cosmetic so far, some layout changes, new icons and new maps. Taxi off by default, but taxi will be returned if no public transport journey can be found. Updates to routes / timetables are implemented from time to time.

The intention is that it will look like the attached PDF when fares data is added.

Originally Posted by comcor

It's still giving a time of 65 mins for a journey that takes me 30 mins every morning because it doesn't believe the bus connection I do is possible. I have given details to them. This is not going to encourage public transport use.

I can raise it with them if you wish. It may be down to how the routes are timetabled.

Do you want to say what routes / times?

Originally Posted by Sealink

Surely Main Street Killybegs is the destination? This further 17 minute walk seems odd!

I don't know Killybegs, but I trust you that it is. It is an issue that has had changes, but as you can appreciate, there are about 100,000 locations to check - the original map database (NAVteq) is somewhat motoring orientated. You can of course add specific locations, e.g. "Main Street, Killybegs", "Chapel Lane, Killybegs" or "1 Lower O'Connell Street, Dublin".

[comcor]

Thanks. I've mailed them about it myself though.

It's 2 Bus Eireann buses - 202 and 226/249. The problem seems to be that it fails to recognise that the 226/249 has a stop on Anglesey St.

Also for buses that do stop on Anglesey St, it fails to allow walking the 90 seconds from Eglinton St to Anglesey St as an option. As a result, you spend 3/4 mins each way travelling to Parnell Place bus station and missing the connection. Instead, I usually have 4/5 mins of waiting for the 2nd bus.

The departures I use are the 7:30 202 (picking it up in Ballintemple at 7:40 or so and the 7:50 226, picking it up from Anglesey St at 7:55 or so. While the official timetables probably say this is impossible (even though in over 3 months on this contract I am yet to miss it), there should be no problem with the connection to the 249 departure at 8am.

On the subject of locations, it thinks the 202 bus stop at Ashcroft is in Ballinlough and the one at Eglinton St is in Turners Cross. Both of these are miles out.

[dowlingm]

comcor - does BE's own planner show that combo? I found BE's planner to be somewhat more conservative than NTA's when someone was trying to get from Galway to Portlaoise a while back

[Colm Moore]

Could people have a look at the journey planner and check walking, bus and taxi routes to the stations they use?

Post any issues here or send them directly to the journey planner team, e.g. it seems that the journey planner only allows access from one side of Central Park Luas stop.

Thanks

[Mark Gleeson]

Map for central park is right

That road provides access to a ESB substation

[shweeney]

travelling to Dingle the planner suggests a train to Limerick, then a bus to Adare, then walk to Lispole to get a final bus to Dingle. Whilst the planner suggests the Adare-Lispole stroll will only take 6 minutes, I think Google are closer with their estimate of 24 hours (seeing as its 118km).

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by shweeney

travelling to Dingle the planner suggests a train to Limerick, then a bus to Adare, then walk to Lispole to get a final bus to Dingle. Whilst the planner suggests the Adare-Lispole stroll will only take 6 minutes, I think Google are closer with their estimate of 24 hours (seeing as its 118km).

Thanks. Reported on 18 August 2012. It would appear to be down to confusion in the coding of the bus stops.

Feel free to post more.