Historic GPS Location Data for 153 and 360 bus routes
Request ID: FOI-1122-1920
Date published: 09 August 2019
You asked
As the size of the data appears to be a problem, would restricting it to just the 153 and 360 for between December 2018 to May 2019 make the request more feasible
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1122-1920
Thank you for your email of 17th July 2019 asking for historic GPS data for the 153 and 360 bus routes, further to your earlier request of 1st July 2019 (our ref: FOI-0936-1920).
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, to source it even for just two routes and for just the six months in question would still exceed the costs limit of £450 (equivalent to 18 hours work), as specified in section 12 of the FOI Act.
The necessary data to answer your request is stored across thousands of files, each of which contain far more information than just the bus routes in question. While your request for fewer routes does reduce the final amount of data that would be issued, it has a minimal impact on the time taken to collate it. The main issue is the need to set up a process to extract the data across thousands of files and to then sort it appropriately. As a result reducing the size of the query in terms of routes does not reduce the burden very much, and reducing the timeframe only makes a minimal difference.
Note that the data in question is provided in real-time via the TfL API feed (https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/open-data-users/), and this is the principal way of sharing data of this sort. The process has not been designed or set up to provide extremely granular, historical data, as TfL is more interested in the aggregate data.
If you are able to explain what you intend to do with the data you have requested then we may be able to suggest alternative aggregate data that might be more easily available and of use to you.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
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