Saturday 5 April 2014

Website review: London Vehicle Finder

London Vehicle Finder tracks the buses that are currently running on the London Bus routes.  When you enter a route number, the website gives you a list of buses currently operating on route 11
for example. So if you’re curious to see if there’s a double decker operating on a single decker route then London Vehicle Finder can help you.

This is one example of a route operated by single decker’s that the double decker is spotted on London Vehicle Finder. The bus with its fleet number 6115 is actually a Volvo B7TL, ALX400 Body double decker bus. The rest is Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 single deckers.

You can also use a bus stop code so whenever you’re waiting for the bus so you can see what bus type is coming by identifying their fleet number which is in line with the route number and its destination. Also it gives you the time where the bus is due to your bus stop, but it does not give you the actual countdown like the official TFL countdown system does.

You can also use the bus stop name like “Stratford bus station” which combines the stops and show it to you in one list. When you’re out observing the buses in Stratford Bus Station you can use the website on your smartphone in order to see what bus is coming over to Stratford Bus Station.

You can check the history for the individual bus by typing in history then enter the registration of the bus onto the search bar. You see that the MEC50 operated on route 170, but the bus spend most of its time operating on route 507 and 521.
There is more information on using the London Vehicle Finder by using their help page.

I noticed that First London is no longer operating routes which are contracted by London Buses because they sold their operations during the mid 2013. But Tower Transit which took few garages from First Group is also on London Vehicle Finder. Tower Transit’s operator code is TT.
The site uses data from the Transport for London data which can be obtainable for use of developers to make transport apps for smartphones.
What needs improving is to have a mobile friendly site which reduce the need to zoom in on smartphones when your out observing buses in the street.
I recommend a site to bus enthusiasts to visit this page whenever your out observing and taking photography of London Buses.
So if you do like to check what buses is running on your route, so this is the site for you.
The website is https://londonvf.co.uk

Screenshots of the site is used for educational purposes.

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