Transport Direct

Transport Direct is a British website which offers comprehensive information to help people plan their journeys effectively and efficiently. The site is funded by the UK Department for Transport, the Welsh Assembly Government, and the Scottish Executive. It helps travelers to compare public transport options, buy train and coach tickets, and find out departure and arrival times for railway stations throughout Britain using PDAs and mobile phones.

Transport Direct works with both public and private travel operators.  The company is operated by a consortium led by Atos Origin. Atos Origin is an international information technology company that provides the insight necessary to identify and make connections, in partnership with the Department for Transport. The website allows users to see the range of train fares likely to be available. After selecting the fare, the site provides availability and full journey details. For bus journeys, the site gives times for every bus stop on every route and the frequency of the bus service. For car journeys, users can check the predicted traffic levels for a car journey and look at the ‘Traffic maps’for a region.

Transport Direct works with other service providers throughout Britain to provide all the information. The Highways Agency provides road traffic information for motorways and trunk roads in England at different times of the day. Scottish Citylink provides express coach services, while Midland Mainline provides high speed train services between South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and London.