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Highlights
- Data collected, cleaned, enriched and analysed from bus operators across Wales
- Data quality tools developed to categorise and resolve errors, and to help understand the standard required in a franchised world
- Reliable data and insights enabling Transport for Wales to understand the performance of the network
- Multi-operator view in the CitySwift platform for comprehensive network insights in one place
Background
In March 2024, Transport for Wales (TfW) and the Welsh Government set out the Roadmap to Franchising. This outlined an intention to commence franchising between 2026-2028 under a phased transition.
As the lead delivery partner, Transport for Wales is responsible for ensuring the transport system is nationally coherent and consistent. The Welsh Government and local authorities are responsible for holding Transport for Wales to account for delivering the objectives of the region’s ‘One Network, One Timetable, One Ticket’ transport strategy.
Transport for Wales will facilitate the co-development of the network with local authorities, Corporate Joint Committees and other key partners to ensure it is strategically joined up across Wales and integrated with other modes of travel.
Lack of standardised, reliable data to inform decisions about the future network
With the introduction of the Bus Emergency Scheme, funding that kept vital bus services running throughout the pandemic, Transport for Wales engaged the Welsh Government and the bus industry to introduce data-sharing arrangements with bus operators.
Accessing this data would make it possible to review the impact and recovery of the Welsh bus network from the pandemic. However, this data supplied by the operators needed to be in a clean and digestible format.
In 2021, TfW sought out CitySwift’s Performance Optimisation platform to:
- improve the quality of raw bus operator data for confident and fair decision-making,
- access and analyse bus network performance data across punctuality, efficiency, and demand, and
- use intelligent recommendations and predictions to test what changes could achieve improved punctuality.
Ultimately, CitySwift helps TfW use data to prepare for franchising and make data-informed decisions in the best interests of passengers.
“Using CitySwift’s Performance Optimisation platform, we've gained unprecedented insights into the Welsh bus network. This has enabled us to make informed decisions, make plans to improve service reliability, and effectively prepare for the upcoming franchising transition. CitySwift's expertise and innovative solutions have been invaluable in our mission to develop a responsive and sustainable bus network for the people of Wales.”
- Lee Robinson, Executive Director for Regional Transport and Integration at Transport for Wales
Improving data quality
Initially starting with 5 of the major Welsh operators as part of a pilot, TfW has since expanded the number of operators on the CitySwift platform to 40, with data sharing arrangements in place to support this data processing.
To begin analysing the performance of the Welsh bus network, CitySwift needed to collect bus network data from across Wales. The Welsh operators provided data from vehicle GPS systems, operational schedules, and ticketing systems.
As this project brought together data from multiple sources across the Welsh network for the first time, confidence in the quality of the data and the resulting outputs was key.
As Wales is not currently bound by a defined set of standards like BODS in England, this introduced challenges with receiving the data. The data sources vary by operator, and the quality of data also varies between operators and data types, making the data inherently complex and challenging to work with.
CitySwift standardises ingested data to create enriched structures ready for analysis. Introducing validation checks has helped achieve consistency across data standards and empowered the operators to resolve any data issues. CitySwift developed a suite of data quality tools that categorise data quality errors in schedule completion, boundary boxes, GPS drift, driver error, and more.
Through rigorous data checks, CitySwift pinpointed variations and shortfalls in the data to help TfW understand what standard is needed and where the weaknesses are. CitySwift set up a data quality working group with TfW to continue to resolve and iterate on these issues.
CitySwift’s ability to combine and enrich this data provided TfW with a detailed understanding of journey patterns and service performance on one platform. Having access to reliable data insights enables TfW to monitor and understand daily bus network performance across Wales—differentiated by time of day, day of the week, and across the year—freeing up TfW’s team to focus on what really matters: developing a bus network that is reliable, responsive, and sustainable.
One platform to bring together network insights
CitySwift’s leading technology, highly skilled team, domain knowledge, and existing operator relationships made it possible to collect and process the data required for this complex project.
TfW also needed to be able to view all network data from a single place in CitySwift. CitySwift’s product team gathered this feedback to create a new multi-operator view in the platform, so that TfW could easily gain access to all network performance easily. Other authorities like Transport for Greater Manchester and the North East Combined Authority now benefit from this feature in CitySwift.
What's next: New passenger intelligence and bringing data to local transport authorities
Transport for Wales will continue to engage and support operators and local authorities to deliver change across bus services in Wales. Data insights will continue to inform this.
Using CitySwift’s origin-destination algorithm, which showcases stop-level boarding and alighting data, TfW will identify potential improvements to services to be incorporated into the new network. This will ensure that the network is designed based on actual passenger movements and needs, delivering the most fit-for-purpose service for the people of Wales.
Transport for Wales have been using CitySwift’s dedicated bus priority dashboard to analyse congestion, passenger delays, and average speed flows to understand pinch points in the network. This will enable data-driven collaboration between the Corporate Joint Committees, Local Authorities and operators to identify the best possible improvements which could be made to benefit the local population.
