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The UK’s recently published Transport Data Action Plan sets out the Department for Transport’s commitments to improving how transport data is used, shared and understood across the sector.
The plan aims to provide better information for passengers, support innovation and technological development, and enable more efficient transport planning and delivery. It builds on the 2023 Transport Data Strategy and supports the UK government’s integrated transport strategy, Better Connected, as well as wider government priorities.
The effective use of transport data will be essential to unlocking digital transformation, improving efficiency and supporting economic growth. However, achieving these ambitions will require the different parts of the transport system to exchange data consistently.
Padam Mobility welcomes the Transport Data Action Plan because clear, consistent and open data standards are fundamental to integrated transport.
The continued use of multiple data formats and bespoke APIs makes multimodal transport technology more complex and expensive to develop and maintain. This particularly affects journey-planning and Mobility-as-a-Service applications that need to combine several modes or service providers within a single passenger journey.
Although progress is being made in standardising data for fixed-route public transport, the integration of dynamic Demand-Responsive Transport and other on-demand public transport services remains less advanced.
As a result, existing DRT services are often absent from popular journey planners. This reduces their visibility and can make the overall public transport network appear less comprehensive than it really is. As many UK DRT services operate in rural areas, passengers may be shown no public transport option even where an on-demand bus is available.
Current approaches to integrating DRT into MaaS and journey-planning applications generally fall into three categories.
Under this model, DRT applications and journey planners exchange data using proprietary systems. Relationships may be exclusive or limited to particular providers.
Selecting a single integrated provider can offer a short-term solution. However, local authorities should consider the longer-term implications. An over-reliance on one provider can restrict choice in future procurements, create expensive supplier lock-in and potentially raise competition or procurement concerns.
A second option is to build individual scripts and APIs connecting a particular DRT platform to a particular MaaS or journey-planning application.
This can provide a tailored solution, but it is labour-intensive and expensive. Costs arise not only during the initial development but throughout the lifetime of the integration. Each significant update to either platform may require the connection to be reviewed or adapted.
Bespoke integrations are also difficult to scale. A solution built for one service, platform or geographical area cannot necessarily be replicated elsewhere without further development.
The third approach is to use open data and interface standards.
Open standards generally take longer to develop and agree upon. However, once adopted, they can significantly reduce the need for bespoke integrations and updates. Standardised solutions are easier to replicate across services and geographical areas, creating economies of scale.
Requiring systems to conform to shared standards can also reduce dependence on an individual platform. It allows local authorities to retain greater choice and supports fair competition between both MaaS and DRT technology providers.
This is the approach supported by Padam Mobility.
DRT is frequently used in rural areas with relatively small populations. It can provide access to essential services, connect passengers with public transport hubs and form the first or last leg of a multimodal journey.
Ideally, these services should be clearly visible in mainstream journey planners. However, the cost of developing and maintaining a bespoke integration can be disproportionately high when it serves a small population.
Open standards create an opportunity to replicate technical solutions across multiple schemes and regions. This spreads development costs across a larger number of services and makes sophisticated journey-planning integrations more viable for smaller rural networks.
Padam Mobility has supported pilot implementations using GTFS-Flex for DRT data and TOMP for exchanges between transport operators and MaaS providers. Projects in Sweden and the Netherlands demonstrate how these standards can improve journey planning and make DRT fully visible as part of the wider transport network.
The Reizen door Zeeland project uses the Flex DRT service to complement existing public transport and connect passengers with the wider network.
The Reizen door Zeeland journey planner is connected to the regional MaaS application using the TOMP API standard. This enables dynamic information about the Flex service to be included in journey planning, making DRT visible alongside conventional public transport.
Passengers can see DRT journeys either as direct trips or as part of a multimodal journey within a single application. The conventional public transport leg can be viewed in the application, while the DRT element can also be booked and scheduled.
The integration also improves access to transport for people with reduced mobility. Although Flex is open to all passengers, users can specify requirements such as wheelchair access or the need for additional equipment when booking.
The journey planner can then propose journeys that meet those requirements across both the DRT and onward public transport legs.
Different passenger groups can be served through the same flexible fleet, helping to improve vehicle utilisation while providing journeys adapted to individual accessibility requirements.
In Sweden, the regional transport authority Västtrafik uses HAFAS as its multimodal journey planner. Padam Mobility supplies information about the DRT service in the GTFS-Flex format, enabling rural on-demand services to appear in journey results alongside fixed-route public transport.
Initial usage figures suggest that the service was quickly incorporated into passengers’ travel patterns. The service launched in early 2024 and, by March, had recorded more than 3,600 app registrations and 761 individual users in an area with approximately 11,000 residents.
During its first month, Buss on demand recorded an average of 3.64 journeys per passenger. Continued repeat use indicates that the service is supporting regular mobility needs rather than being used only for occasional or exploratory journeys.
Standardisation makes it possible to scale transport integrations across multiple areas. This can reduce costs, improve the availability of passenger information and ultimately encourage greater use of public transport.
The adoption of standards such as GTFS-Flex and TOMP means that integrations developed for one project can be more easily replicated for other schemes and connected with additional journey-planning platforms.
This is particularly important for rural areas and smaller populations. A robust and replicable digital framework makes it possible to combine highly tailored local transport services with a cost-effective and scalable technical approach.
The Transport Data Action Plan provides an important opportunity to strengthen the UK’s transport data ecosystem. To realise its full potential, the implementation of the plan should explicitly consider dynamic and on-demand public transport alongside fixed-route services.
DRT should not disappear from journey-planning results simply because it operates differently from a conventional bus route. Open standards can help ensure that passengers see the complete public transport offer available to them, while enabling local authorities to avoid unnecessary costs and retain flexibility in future procurements.
Integrating DRT into the wider transport data landscape is therefore not solely a technical question. It is an important step towards making public transport more visible, accessible and useful.
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