By email
Shed 39, 2 Fryat Quay
Pipitea, Wellington 6011
PO Box 11646
4 December 2015
Manners Street
Wellington 6142
T 04 384 5708
F 04 385 6960
File Ref: OIAP-7-595
www.gw.govt.nz
Tony Randle
[FYI request #3397 email]
Dear Mr. Randle,
Request for information 2015/109
I refer to your request for information on real-time bus data, which was received by Greater
Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) on 24 November 2015. You have requested the following
information:
A) Can I please have a copy of the bus real-time data held by the GWRC for the past year?
B) Can I also please have a copy of any supporting reports that describe the real-time bus data held
by the GWRC?
C) Can I also please have a copy of any reports on how the real-time bus data should be interpreted
for analysis held by the GWRC?
GWRC’s assessment of your request is as follows:
Access to and availability of Real Time Data
GWRC gathers historic reporting data from the real-time system for buses on over 96 urban bus
routes across the region. This data is stored in its raw form and includes detailed records of
geographic locations and departure and arrival times of individual bus trips by route, stop, vehicle,
operator, shift and other parameters.
We can access and collate this data on a case by case basis. Reporting may be from the extremes of
detailed real-time monitoring of what a single bus was doing (for example, to investigate a late-
running complaint), to historic reporting on punctuality of a whole route over a year (for example, to
rectify schedule inaccuracies and adjust timetables). The reporting is therefore configured by the
individual user to suit the needs of the work they are doing, using the proprietary application
included with the real-time system.
The raw data requires substantial time to retrieve and process. Our estimate is that it would take up
to 12 working days of additional work to export and collate the volume of data you have asked for.
OIA 2015-109_REVISED RESPONSE
As part (A) of your request currently stands, GWRC would need to refuse it in accordance with
section 17(f) of the Act, on the ground that the extensive amount of data which you have requested
cannot be made available without substantial collation and research.
GWRC has considered whether imposing a charge or seeking a time extension would enable us to
process your request as it currently stands. However, we consider the time estimated to be involved
in processing your request to be so great that neither charging nor seeking a time extension would
enable us to process your request in a manner that would avoid an adverse impact on GWRC’s
operations.
In addition to the substantial work required, the information you are seeking is commercial
information with the potential to prejudice the commercial position of bus operators operating on
GWRC’s real-time network. While we would need to consult with bus operators first, as it currently
stands, your request is likely to be refused in accordance with section 7(2)(b)(ii) of the Act.
Request for further specificity
In order to provide you with information under the Act, we request that you refine the information
which you have requested under part (A) of your request. For example, GWRC could provide you
with extracts of real-time data aggregated in the form of:
Service reliability statistics (Graphs and/or tabular aggregated data) – this information
provides a measure of reliability (percentage of trips which are on time) at the origin,
intermediate or destination stop and will exclude commercially sensitive information.
Average running time for a route for a given time period (could be a month or year) - Gives
an average time to complete a trip from when the bus departs the origin stop to when it
arrives at the destination stop.
Alternatively, we would be happy to talk to you further to assist you with refining your request in
another manner. Please send any refined request to Margaret Meek, Senior Democratic Services
Advisor, [email address], or phone 04 830 4192.
Yours sincerely
Wayne Hastie
General Manager
Public Transport
OIA 2015-109_REVISED RESPONSE
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