A guide to Electronic Bus Service Registration

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Our vision

The bus data supply chain from operator through to all interested parties is completely electronic.

The operator creates and owns the data such that it can be re-used effectively and efficiently by all.

Value can be added to the data as it moves through the supply chain to the customer.

What is Electronic Bus Service Registration (EBSR)?

Launched on 31st January 2008, EBSR enables bus operators to submit bus service registration applications to the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) online, rather than via the current paper-based approach.

What will Electronic Registration involve?

Everything that would normally be in paper-based registration will be contained in the TransXChange (TXC) XML file. The route and stopping places will be described and the timetable (with all its variations) will be included.

The contents of the TXC file can be viewed and read using the associated ‘publisher’ software package, which writes it into a printable (and human-readable) PDF document.

The route is described in the TXC file by reference to precise points, at which stops are located and junctions through which the route passes.

The route will be presented on maps as a series of lines joining adjacent routing or stop points. Pilot registrations have shown that it is easy to understand the route that the bus will follow. The timetable in the registered particulars viewed by VOSA will only include principal timing points as now.

There will be no map as such in the TXC file – just the stop records, from the National Public Transport Access Node (NaPTAN) database, and the co-ordinates of any road junctions that have been included in the file by the operator.

Operators are responsible for keeping their bus schedules and service registration up-to-date. Local Transport Authorities (including Passenger Transport Executives) (LTAs) will continue to maintain the bus stop records in NaPTAN for their area.

What’s the formal process?

1. An operator creates its application as a TransXChange (TXC) file and submits it to VOSA.

2. The TXC file is tested by VOSA to ensure validity against TXC standards.

3. Once validated by VOSA’s system a message is sent by e-mail to the operator and to each LTA through whose areas the service passes.

4. The TXC file also passes into the VOSA operator licensing business system for attention by the caseworker.

5. Once reviewed by the caseworker, VOSA issues an ‘Acceptance’ of the file by e-mail and makes available securely to the operator and LTA a PDF rendering of the ‘registered particulars’, including maps illustrating the bus route.

When will EBSR be rolled out nationally?

Roll-out by the pilot bus operators (Arriva and Stagecoach) is expected to start as soon as they have completed the transfer to electronic registration at their pilot locations. These operators are planning to extend steadily to their depots nationwide.

VOSA is inviting other operators to transfer to electronic registration now that the system has been tested and shown ready for use.

Who else can benefit?

In addition to use as part of a bus registration, TXC files can also streamline the transfer of schedules between a bus operator and a LTA or the provider of real-time information system. The increased precision in schedule creation should improve timetable accuracy and speed up the import of data to local and regional databases – and therefore to traveline, Transport Direct and others.