GeoBus: Reliable Bus Times in Lisbon
Update: December 29, 2020
This is a sad update. The city government in Lisbon (which runs the public transportation agency) without warning has turned off API access for almost all 3rd party applications. Unfortunately this means that GeoBus is no longer getting real time data, rendering the application unusable. I really do hope that the Lisbon city government and Carris can work out a solution to bring back public API access for all 3rd party developers. Until then, we can no longer recommend GeoBus 😔.
One of the things that I enjoy when visiting a new city is how public transportation is integrated into the city’s transportation infrastructure. Did they design for a subway first public transportation network or focus on more above ground with buses, trams and streetcars? How does the geography, topology and neighbourhoods dictate routes and frequency of the public transportation network? Lastly, from a design perspective, how do stops, stations and signage educate riders and get them where they need to go. You can imagine after creating this website, that last data point is one of my favourites.
Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹
In September when I visited for Lisbon the first time, I was excited to see how all their different public transportation offerings integrated with the city. While the metro, trains and ferry seemed to operate fairly smoothly, the above ground transportation was another story. The famous Lisbon trams were always packed. Unless you were getting on at the end of the line, it was almost always better to take another route.
Busses in Lisbon 🚍
There are certainly more bus routes in Lisbon than any other public transportation method. On our second day there, we found ourselves needing to take one of those busses for the first time. Armed with Google Maps, we made our way to the stop only to see our bus go by right before us. No worries, we’ll just wait for the next one. Some bus stops have little LED signs showing when the next bus will arrive, ours didn’t have that. We ended up waiting for a while.
Enter GeoBus 📱
Our problem isn’t uncommon in Lisbon. Heavy surface road traffic has caused the bus network to have large inconsistencies with its service. Luckily, a developer from Lisbon decided to tackle this problem. João de Vasconcelos has created GeoBus, an app that provides users with the GPS location of every bus in Lisbon.
The 706 Lisbon Bus route in GeoBus.
“I actually think our public transit system is quite good, but it’s only 90% done. The 10% that is missing are perspective issues. There is a real lack of communication with the users. When everything is not working, it’s very noticeable.” João told us that while Carris (the public transportation operator in Lisbon) has good technology and data, they don’t expose it to riders and the traffic situation in Lisbon makes it hard to use the data. “The technology is quite good, (the buses) all have GPS since 1998 but we have a chronic problem with cars. We allow cars everywhere… (and) that amount of traffic makes it really hard to calculate the waiting times.”
João took matters into his own hands and created GeoBus, an iOS app that grabs that GPS bus data from Carris’ API and plots it on a map. You can choose the route you’re interested in, select stops and see all the buses on that route and where they are. The app also shows the wait times from Carris, and you can see the lack of communication João is talking about. A bus could be one stop away, but Carris’ data says it’s 311 minutes away!
We love the design and execution of GeoBus and think it is a must download for iOS users heading to Lisbon. We’ve added links to GeoBus on our Lisbon pages. Do you live in Lisbon, or plan on visiting?
