BODS Updates from Stakeholders

About Us and News
1

This is an update from the Operator Digital Initiative (OpDI) summarising its meeting with the BODS team on 03/09/24:

• The Invitation to Tender for the procurement of a new BODS contract is in review within DfT. Applicants who are successful at RFI (deadline for submission has passed) will be shortlisted to be invited to tender in the next few weeks.

• A new BODS Data Quality Service (DQS), which calculates the TransXchange (TXC) data quality score by operator/schedule, is now live. Its wholly hosted by DfT and replaces the previously supplied/hosted ITO World DQS. All data submitted in the past 2 weeks has been subject to these tests, and back testing on previously published live data will happen over the next 2-3 weeks

• A new ABODS services is in test, which measures how well TXC and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) matches by operator; invitations for User Acceptance Testing will go out in the next couple of weeks. Again, this is wholly hosted by DfT and replaces the previously supplied ITO World ABODS.

• First Bus plans to repeat its ABODS testing on its full MetroBus services in Bristol over a 4 week period, where local TXC/AVL testing is compared to ABODS, but is holding fire until the new ABODS is implemented and stable. Stagecoach is carrying out similar in-house testing and is also using LA matching systems for comparison. This testing has resulted from ABODS matching scores being much lower than local operator/LA measurement of matching historically, and over reporting of early running, although the effect of the new ABODS has yet to be measured.

• TXC version numbering issues in BODS data exported from Ticketer systems, where there are different revision numbers for files with the same operating period (not allowed), has been fixed and is being rolled out across the country. This issue has prevented open data consumers from interpreting TXC files into timetables and journey plans correctly.

• There’s still an issue with a few operators, across a handful of datasets, being unable to publish their (valid) datasets to BODS, although the incidence of this has been reduced since it was first reported to BODS.

• OpDI will publish its issues list to this BODS User Forum (Unofficial), and sees it as a useful place to hold and share reference docs such as a glossary of BODS data terms

1 Like
2

Who is testing the new ABOD service other than First and Stagecoach?

3

Stagecoach and First have been testing against the current ABODS. As it was explained by the BODS team at OpDI, invitations to test the new ABODS will go out in the next few weeks.
Hopefully somone on here from the BODS team will correct us if this is wrong

4

When you say BODS Team, is that the DfT BODS Team or the KPMG BODS Team (as opposed to the ITO ABOD Team). With a Local Authority hat on I would like to volunteer us to be part of the testing - but to whom does one have to make that request?

5

It was from KPMG at a meeting with DfT present. The new ABODS isn’t an ITO tool. I’m not sure what contact DfT provides for LAs for BODS but will ask today and come back here with their reply.

7

An extension to the ABODS contract with ITO World to June 25 was published today at a value of £4m ; although there appears to an error in the contract end date in the signed letter.
ABODS 2024-25 - Contracts Finder

8

Hi Michael,

Thank you so much for volunteering. We will keep your details on the UAT contact list.