Turning transport data into apps

Jonathan RaperCEO, Placr

Placr: a transport data aggregator• A ‘data-as-a-service’ company since 2009• Open transport data/OpenStreetMap• Developer of APIs for data owners e.g. TfL• Supplier of feeds to travel apps e.g. BusMapper• Web/ app developer for transport e.g. Trapeze• All public transport feeds in transportapi.com• White label travel app at placr.mobi

transportapi.com

• Launched with Traveline and Network Rail feeds this year

• Scalable cloud-based service• Output in HTML or developer

formats e.g. JSON, XML• Sign up/ get access online-

now approaching 100 users• Free use up 1000 hits per day• Charges for hosting, volume

and guarantees

transportapi gallery

transportapi.com added value• OpenStreetMap for stop/station locations• Travel disruption feeds for partner operators• London Underground performance indicators• Real travel time through London bus network• Bus/train performance

transportapi.com design

Live data Disruption Performance OpenStreetMap Timetables

Building apps on transportapi.com• Developer-friendly feeds in a range of formats• Content that fits into app displays/workflows• Scaling feeds with app demand >100K hits/day• Testing and refining with developers

BusMapper• Bus route planning by tapping on map• Live bus departures/routes across London• Award winning iOS and Android app

UK TravelOptions

• High quality OSM maps• 3D perspective viewing• Display/search POIs• Facebook integration• Tap thru to transport info• Timetables for bus, rail, tube• Tube performance indicators• iOS app, iPad optimised

White-label transport web app• placr.mobi is a web app built

on top of transportapi.com• Covers all 360K stops/stations• Browsable transport info

source with linked displays• Hosted service to create

custom local apps• Offers a set of deployable

extensions for operator/user

Feedback from travellers

• Customer feedback– Activity streams report feedback

• Mobile polling– placr.mobi offers polling tools in

activity streams– Results are aggregated for

operators

Crowd updating

• Many stop facilities are unknown• Conditions at stops change• Data gathering by passengers

supported into the web app• placr.mobi gathers updates and

submits to operator/ OSM• Mapping/POI from OSM

Apps as new information streams

• Apps are new CRM channels• Behaviour can be measured• Loadings can be predicted• Social media updates mined• Opportunities for 2-way comms• Lots of new possibilities for apps

Analysing user requests

• Mapping London Countdown live bus departure requests

• Analysing app users requests and subsequent behaviour

• Building anonymised user profiles

Yellow: weekdayRed: weekend

Logging service performance

• Real-time data feeds can be recorded & mined• Bus live departures show commuting patterns• Early warning of service problems

Sentiment analysis• Local Twitter search eg bus+driver for “London”• Volume of comments to services by hour/day etc• Early warning for problems, CRM tool…

Business model

Analytics

Integration withOther data feeds

API

Free apps

£££

Developers

Ads

Fees

Customerrelationship

Compilation,referencing &validation

Delivery of dataas-a-service

Raw timetable &Real time data

Updates,comments

New transport app economy

• Improved journey experience with apps

• Better informed, more positive customers

• Customer experience matches other sectors

• Apps add their own link to the value chain

• New revenues too?

Contact

http://www.placr.co.uk/jonathan.raper@placr.co.uk@Madprof