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Brighton Bus Times

Changelog

The bigger changes to the site, in the order they landed. Releases are versioned from v1.0.0 onwards.

Return to the bus map

This is a record of changes people using the site are likely to notice. Tiny fixes, dependency updates, test work and behind-the-scenes diagnostics are left out.

Formal versioning starts with v1.0.0 on 14 September 2026. Older entries stay date-only because they pre-date versioned releases.

September 2026

v1.0.0 Latest
  • Made live journey matching less sticky when two buses or timetable journeys are close together. A bus can now drop an old match when its actual position clearly says it should be on something else.
  • Moved the heavier historical running-time work out of the stop request itself, so opening a stop does not have to wait for that calculation.
  • Tightened the checks around live-trip continuity so the same timetable journey is not accidentally claimed by more than one bus.

  • Buses that finish at a stop are no longer shown as departures from that same stop. The same rule now applies to the website and Home Assistant.
  • Open live-bus popups now refresh themselves every 15 seconds, and stops already passed by the bus drop out of the list as it moves along the route.
  • Started using recent real running times between stops to gently correct live ETAs where there is enough good data to do so safely.
  • Refreshed the public colour scheme, favicon and error pages, and added an explanation of why an operator's own app can sometimes receive a newer bus position before this site does.

  • Tidied route lines for Stagecoach, Metrobus and Compass. Short workings can still have their own timetable, but they no longer clutter the map with duplicate-looking route lines.

  • Brighton & Hove timetable imports now join the current and future published timetables together. This stops upcoming services disappearing just because the current feed is nearing its end date.

  • The map now hides uncommon short-working shapes when they would otherwise make the main route line look duplicated or unnecessarily messy.

  • Added Compass Travel timetable and live-bus support, including routes 16, 16A, 37, 37B, 37C, 47 and 52.
  • Stop panels now look up the next service when nothing is due within the normal six-hour window, rather than making a quiet stop look as though it has no service at all.
  • Fixed live predictions after midnight, including published timetable times written as 24:xx or 25:xx, and improved handling of buses that turn around into their next trip near a terminus.

  • Reworked stop direction arrows using the published NaPTAN bearing, and moved the routes serving a stop into the clicked stop panel where they are easier to read.
  • Rebuilt a large part of the destination logic around the actual trip direction and terminal stop, fixing a run of wrong or over-shortened destination names.
  • Stagecoach timetable processing now uses the proper TransXChange timing points rather than treating every point in the source data as equally significant.
  • The public pages got the current blue Brighton Bus Times look, along with a proper contact form.

  • Home Assistant now uses the same refined live ETA calculation as the website instead of following a slightly different timing path.
  • When an old live prediction is removed, scheduled departures are now pulled back in to fill the gap rather than leaving a strangely short departure list.
  • Tightened the quality checks on historical running times so obviously bad samples do not influence future live predictions.

August 2026

  • Put the newer live-prediction system into the main site after testing it in beta. It follows a bus's progress along its trip more carefully and gives the ETA code much better information to work with.
  • Added accuracy tracking behind the scenes so prediction changes can be checked against what actually happened rather than tuned by guesswork alone.

  • Added Metrobus routes 270, 271, 272 and 273, with their own route colours and separate timetable/live-data handling.
  • Added the operator filter so the map can be narrowed down to Brighton & Hove, Metrobus, Stagecoach or other supported operators.
  • Added the full-screen departure board, along with the board builder, themes and setup guide.
  • Added data-freshness information to the How it works page so it is possible to see when the site last completed its main timetable, live and fleet updates.
  • Timetable refreshes were moved to a safer staged process, so a broken or incomplete download is less likely to replace a working timetable.

  • Added support for Stagecoach South data using its own isolated timetable and live pipeline rather than mixing it into the Brighton & Hove import.
  • Stale and clearly off-route bus markers are now removed from the map sooner instead of hanging around after the live feed has moved on.
  • Made first-load geolocation less confusing when somebody opens the map well outside the Brighton & Hove area.

  • Live bus popups started showing fleet details where available, including registration, vehicle name and a rough indication of the bus's age.
  • Added automatic location on the first map load and restored the Home Assistant setup page.
  • Added the first proper search-engine metadata, sitemap and indexing rules for the public pages.

  • Changed the countdown display to use complete minutes: 1 minute 59 seconds now shows as 1 min, and Due is reserved for the final minute.
  • Fixed several early destination and terminus mismatches so route labels better match the direction the bus is actually travelling.

  • Stop panels got much better at reconciling scheduled departures with the live buses seen on the map, rather than treating them as two unrelated lists.
  • Route maps started showing legitimate route variants and bus markers were made to follow route geometry more closely instead of cutting across buildings between live updates.
  • Added next-stop information to live bus popups and tidied the map controls on smaller screens.

  • Brighton Bus Times launched. The old home page was replaced with a live Brighton & Hove bus map showing routes, stops and vehicle positions.
  • Added stop search, geolocation, route filtering, operator route colours and NaPTAN stop indicators.
  • Stop panels started with the published timetable and then swapped in live predictions as soon as they were available, instead of making people stare at a loading screen.
  • Added smoother route-following bus movement, next-stop information and the first Home Assistant departures endpoint.