The 1420 from Axminster to Bridport (3)

Devon's Dubious Definition

Remembering the joys of the often non-working display at Axminster, fbb is grateful to a correspondent who updated him about display screens in Exeter. Way bank when, el chubbo reported that the old screens that adorned the bus stops in the city centre were mostly busted and useless. The few that worked were, mostly, wrong and useless.

A few new displays have been installed using portrait format TV-type screen in tasteful shades of blue. An investigative trip is needed but, for the moment, we can glean something of their quality by reproducing the display for fbb's local route 9A. Remember (of course you do) that this runs from Exeter to Newton Poppleford, Sidmouth, Seaton and Lyme Regis.

So what does the departure screen show?

 9A     Marine Place   1025  

So where, Devon Council, is Marine Place?

It is, as everyone viewing the sign will know (NOT), in Seaton. The bus, of course is going to  Post Office  and fbb will leave his readers with the Devon bus map extract so they can guess which Post Office! You will need to click on the map to enlarge it.

All County Councils are short of cash; so why has Devon wasted money on useless displays. Answers, together with a £50 note, to:- Devon County Council, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QD.

P.S. Profuse apologies to the correspondent in question. In an outbreak of stubby-fingeredness, fbb managed to lose the picture of a full Exeter display. It was a bit fuzzy, so the above re-creation is more legible.

And so to TransXChange

Readers are warned that continuing with this blog may damage their health, possibly for ever.

A quick search on-line reveals the "schema(s)" for the system.

But beware; it consists of 302 pages. This is the index for the "Introduction":-

But let us bravely press on, remembering that this is the method of passing bus timetables between various users or creators of electronic information. Here is part of the index for the so-called "Short Tour" of the impenetrable hades of TransXChange.

And this is a diagram showing how TransXChange is used ...

... and we've made it to page 32 of 302! And then a diagram of the schema structure.

And what, pray is a schema? Wikipedia explains it succinctly.

A database schema of a database system is its structure described in a formal language supported by the database management system (DBMS). The term "schema" refers to the organization of data as a blueprint of how the database is constructed (divided into database tables in the case of relational databases). The formal definition of a database schema is a set of formulas (sentences) called integrity constraints imposed on a database. These integrity constraints ensure compatibility between parts of the schema. All constraints are expressible in the same language. A database can be considered a structure in realization of the database language. The states of a created conceptual schema are transformed into an explicit mapping, the database schema. This describes how real-world entities are modeled in the database.

fbb's head is now hurting; so let us go back to what TransXChange is meant to do. Here is its "official" "raison d'être". It is designed to allow the exchange of these "things" between systems:-

Bus schedules including stops, routes, departures times/frequencies, operational notes, and maps. 

Routes may have complex topologies such as circular routes, cloverleaf and lollipops, and complex workings such as short working and express patterns. Connections with other services can also be described;

The days on which the services run, including availability on public holidays and other exceptions;

Term times and holidays of Schools, Local Educational Authorities and other organisations serviced by a bus service;

Information about the Bus Operators providing the service;

Additional operational information, including fare stages, positioning runs, garages, layovers, duty crews, useful for Automatic Vehicle Location or AVL and on-board ticketing systems.

And here is an extract from a typical file that fbb sends off to the team grappling with the complexities of the GoTimetable system. It is a simple CSV file (CSV = comma separated value).

It has table number, operator and date details plus a list of stops ...

... which can be as detailed or as crude as is desired.

Then comes the timetable with its associated journey and date notes:-

The only information NOT included in the current file "schema" (snigger) is that coloured in red, above. 

So it is no wonder that mistakes like the 1420 from Axminster to Bridport are just busting to be made using TransXChange. Somewhere in the 302 pages (read it here if you dare) must be many a recipe for obfuscation and all-round complication.

What fbb has not revealed, however, is the very clever program that takes the GoTimetable CSV file, checks it as input and then turns it into the output as presented on you laptop or Android phone; but in ludicrously simple words, the program does (or can do) all that TransXChange purports to do but using a simple easily edited and understood sheet of names and numbers.

www.gotimetable.com

fbb does wonder how the costs compare?

Don't Ask Is, We Only Run The Buses!
And if you want to get from Axminster to Dorchester in the 1420 X51 (or any other bus) don't try asking the First Bus App.

It cannot get you any further than Bridport. Here is a map extract to give some geographical context.

And, coming back from Dorchester to Axmiunster?

You cannot get beyond Bridport either.

All together now:-

And for the record, the Traveline Timetable for the X51 and X53 (which is where this problem started) was riddled with errors, not just the 1420 from Axminaster. Apparently it was a TransXChange file used to pass the data from First Bus to Traveline!

Q E D

 Next photographic blog : Saturday 22nd October