Electronic bus boards have begun in Lincolnshire

There are two types of boards being fitted to bus stops across the county by Vix, who are overseeing both the installation and ongoing maintenance. With the first phase now complete, the Real Time system is up and running at selected locations.

Funded by the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) there will be a mixture of large TFT displays and battery-powered E-paper screens. 

Currently, there are 12 of the large boards running at larger bus stations while 39 smaller E-paper displays are now in position at roadside bus stops.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for Transport at LCC said: "Being able to bring real time bus information to various locations in Lincolnshire is a real improvement. 

"We will roll more of these out in bus stations and bus stops across Lincolnshire so that live details of each journey, as it happens, will be available to bus users."

The boards are part of an improvement programme to get more accurate, live and instant information to the public with 151 displays to be fitted across the county.

Coun Davies added: “The boards and screens are already making a real difference with accurate information about where buses are and when they are going to arrive at the stop.

“The information data about each bus is also available on a mobile phone. it can be accessed at all Lincolnshire bus stops via QR codes whether there is a real time screen at the stop or not.”

With Phase one of the information roll-out now complete, Phase two is now underway with another batch or the E-paper displays, coming online in the next few weeks.

Coun Davies said: “The schedule is that, by the end of March, we will have 87 more E-paper displays live and running to help get even more of this instant information to more sites.

“This is an ongoing part of our county-wide improvement in bus usage across the county which has seen us be able to boost the amount of people getting on buses again by more than 250,000.

“Our work so far, in partnership with local bus companies, has meant more buses at more times, old routes being brought back and the response by the Lincolnshire public has been terrific. Hopefully this on-site technology will also be a real help to those bus users and anyone getting back on buses in the future.”

Matthew Wilks, Business Development Director at Vix, added: “Real-time information hasn’t been installed in these quantities in the region before.

“BSIP funding has enabled Lincolnshire County Council to purchase quickly deployable battery RTI displays, which lend themselves perfectly to funding such as BSIP that comes with spending time constraints.

“What Lincolnshire has done in providing RTI at stops will undoubtedly enhance the bus network and make the user journey more informed and streamlined.”