Passenger Cloud now dynamically updates a new ‘Current data’ URL that can be used for the DfT’s new Bus Open Data Service (BODS).

The new service was launched on 29th January 2020 and over the next year, will become the home of bus operator data on the web. Following the passing of the Bus Services Act 2017, operators in England will be legally required to publish their network data on the BODS system before January 2021.

To help you meet the new legal requirement, we have made some updates to Passenger Cloud and your Passenger website to enable this.

When your team uploads a new zip file with TransXChange data to Passenger Cloud for your website and/or apps, the data is automatically published on your ‘Our data’ page. This page now includes a ‘Current data’ link that can be added directly to BODS.

To do this, simply create an account on the BODS website and add the URL displayed on the ‘Current data’ link. You can see the URL by right-clicking and selecting ‘copy URL’.

The URL will work in BODS for all new network data in Passenger Cloud. After the next time you publish a dataset and it becomes current then BODS will be able to read it. Passenger Cloud can work with a 2.1 or 2.4 version of TransXChange but at the moment BODS only accepts version 2.4 files.

Once you’ve set this up in BODS, the data published on the BODS service will automatically update each time you update Passenger Cloud! So you won’t need to log into BODS every time you make a change. It’ll just happen. Saving you lots of time and keeping you compliant with the new regulations.