[2] The service is described by ITO World as "an international first", as it provides Open Data of bus timetables, fares and Automatic Vehicle Location of buses across England.
[3] The implementation requirements only applied in England[5] Following the introduction of the Bus Open Data, there have been a number of uses for the system.
Despite providing fare, time and vehicle location, the Department for Transport has ruled out including key accessibility information on bus stops, stations and vehicles despite the Bus Services Act making specific provision for open data, 'for the purpose of facilitating travel by disabled persons'.
[12][13] Writing in Buses magazine, Centrebus Group owner Julian Peddle called the service "a horrendously bureaucratic and over-engineered system designed by well-meaning but clueless officials in London.
It’s supposedly been running since January 2021, but has not improved things in the wilds of Shropshire, and never will, because government bureaucrats don’t understand the problem, so have no chance of solving it.