Software innovator touches on new way to keep track of Capital's buses

Following the success of the city council's Bustracker service, a new homemade application for the Apple iPhone, Edinbus, has now been downloaded by around 4,000 people in the Capital.

Created by Edinburgh-based software developer Gordon Christie, 31, the free download tells users how many minutes they need to wait before the next bus arrives at their stop.

The application, which took around three months to develop, has now won the backing of the city council and Lothian Buses.

Mr Christie said he had decided to design the software to make his own life easier and had been pleasantly surprised by its popularity.

He said: "I have been using Lothian Buses for several years and this is something I had been thinking about for a while.

"Since the application was released in June there have been around 4,000 downloads.

"It's been a really good experience. I did this as a bit of fun and I've even had a few offers of work out of it."

However, Mr Christie, who has not made any money from his creation, admits he has had to stay one step ahead of the game to keep track of bus stops moving for the city's tram works.

Iain Coupar, marketing director of Lothian Buses, gave his backing to the application, saying he used it himself.

He said: "It's certainly very useful in this day and age.

"The development of something like an iPhone application that allows you to find out where your nearest bus stop is and when buses will be there is fantastic.

"We would welcome the fact that people outwith the bus industry are happy to go away and develop this kind of thing.

"The city council has invested a lot of money into the bus tracker system which you can use from your home or office desktop, but the ability for someone to capture the information and transfer that into mobile information is fantastic. We even use it ourselves."

Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, the city's transport convener, added: "Itself a fantastic innovation, BusTracker has been a huge hit with the travelling public since it was introduced, hence why we are in the process of rolling out the scheme to other routes.

"Obviously, the more readily the information is available, the better."

'IT'S GREAT BECAUSE IT MEANS YOU DON'T HAVE TO STAND IN THE COLD'

JOURNALIST Scott McCartney has been using the iPhone bus tracker for a fortnight, and while the buses haven't always been on time, the information has been spot on.

Scott regularly travels between the New Town, Holyrood, and the city centre.

He said: "I was a bit dubious about it to begin with as you get so many applications which ultimately prove to be useless, but this one is really good and it's free.

"I check it before I leave the office so I know exactly when the bus will arrive, which is great at this time of the year because it means you don't have to stand around in the cold.

"It hasn't let me down yet.

"Now all we need is an application to tell us when there are no seats left, except next to a screaming child."

http://itunes.com/app/edinbus