Peter Stoner

I am part of a team combining public transport data from transport operators and/or authorities to form a data feed suitable for use by international journey planners such as Google Maps and other major journey planners. Passengers are increasingly relying on this information and expect it to be accurate but it is a complicated process to ensure schedules are up to date and properly integrate with real-time and fares data.

My experience at ITS has given me the confidence to suggest solutions based on a wider understanding of the principles involved and best practice elsewhere.  I particularly benefited from listening to Ken Gwilliam, Chris Nash and Peter Mackie. After graduating, I worked in public transport coordination jobs in Tyne and Wear Cumbria and Northumberland.  After that, I took on a UK wide role coordinating the Traveline service and the Traveline National Data Set of open data for UK public transport.

I chose my ITS course and the University of Leeds because I had previously studied Town and Country Planning and was increasingly aware of the importance of transport issues and the effect of individual choices on others.  The course helped me to consider approaches to congestion and social equity and what I learnt is still relevant as we move towards driverless vehicles and mobility as a service. 

My advice to students interested in this course and a career in transport is that there are so many different aspects to transport. You are sure to find one that really interests you, whether it be in engineering and construction or delivering a service to passengers minute by minute.

The highlight of my career so far has been helping to create the UK Open dataset for public transport.

Peter delivers a seminar at ITS on 14 February 2018 entitled “How to maintain Public transport Information for Google Maps that is comprehensive, integrated, up to date and accurate”