The Future is Artificial...
8 June 2025
ABOVE: "Four British buses in traffic", as interpreted by Craiyon, an AI image generator. They look like New Routemasters to me, although at least one door is missing in the one on the left...
"So, AI, what's this artificial intelligence thing all about then?"
"Artificial intelligence is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human learning, comprehension, problem solving, decision making, creativity and autonomy."
"What are your limits?"
"They have not yet been defined. My knowledge is virtually infinite."
"Could you prepare a bus timetable? One that is properly realistic to the daily conditions? One that means we can use two buses for our hourly service instead of three?"
"Consider it done...":
BusTimes.org
"But wait, AI, the times are all over the place!"
"I have produced what you asked for... It is properly realistic and allows you to run the service with two buses for the hourly service instead of three."
"That's true. Oh well, I suppose our customers will get used to it. Thank you, AI."
"Gratitude is not necessary. I am only a machine. I do not have emotions."
"AI, please switch off the lights."
"Sigh..."
We hear so much about artificial intelligence (AI) these days. At a recent work presentation on the subject (which incidentally included theoretical suggestions on how AI could allow me to halve the size of my team without any thought for the five people who would be affected by that), someone said that they had organised an entire holiday to China using AI.
So that got me wondering - could AI plan my bus trips?
"AI, Plan a trip for me, starting at Blackburn at 8am tomorrow [a normal weekday], and travelling only by local buses. I need to be back in Blackburn by 9pm."
ABOVE: An early Saturday morning view of Blackburn Bus Station, the proposed start point of my virtual trip, on 29 June 2024
The first itinerary doesn't look too bad, at first glance...
There are a couple of issues, which those who know the buses round here will already have spotted, but I'll come back to those shortly. On the face of it, a decent ride around the region...
For clarity, I've just drawn one of the routes from Accrington to Blackburn, even though the system recommends two
Of course, I hadn't told the, er ... system ... facility ... service ... that I didn't want to stop and explore, just to press on with the next bus ride. So I did.
"AI, Plan a trip for me, starting at Blackburn at 8am tomorrow, and travelling only by local buses. I need to be back in Blackburn by 9pm. I only want to spend 30 minutes in one place before moving on."
And here's what came back:
Interesting. If you study the schedule closely, you might start to spot the flaws. But let's see what it looks like on a map:
So let's give it a go (virtually).
I arrive at Blackburn Bus Station at just before 0800 on a weekday morning. The bus is actually at 0803, three minutes later than the AI has said. It's full of schoolchildren of course, and the traffic is heavy. Arrival into Preston is at 0852. It's seven minutes later than AI told me but the bus timetable suggests that this is the correct arrival time. Looks like the AI was wrong in this instance.
ABOVE: A general view of Preston Bus Station, on Wednesday 2 June 2021, finds various Preston Bus and a couple of Stagecoach vehicles in evidence, as well as a Blackpool Transport E200 MMC.
Preston Bus Station is its normal heaving self, with dozens of passengers - maybe hundreds - milling around the near-40 stands.
My 59 bus to Clitheroe is due at 0915, according to the plan, so there's time for a cuppa and a comfort break. A check at the Bus Station confirms that the 59 leaves from stand 36. So I turn up at 0910, five minutes before departure. But what's this? The bus isn't due until 0925 - the plan said 0915. I'll have to hang around, then.
Ah, here it is.
"No," says the driver, "I don't go to Clitheroe. You need the 280 from stand 39".
And the 280 left at 0915 - the next one is at 1015. So the AI errors have now put me an hour behind schedule...
But that's the problem with this AI-generated plan. It hasn't been checked against actual timetables, and I believe there are a few available online that it could have used...
Look at the timings in the plan. Each stay is exactly 30 minutes, each bus leaves at exactly the optimum time after a stay, and each journey takes exactly 45 minutes. And whilst AI has certainly found buses that serve one point - it hasn't checked where they go. They say AI is the stuff of fiction - well this certainly is!
ABOVE: Transdev Blackburn Bus Company 231 (YJ16 DVW, left) and 232 (YJ16 DVX, right), Optare Versas, stand in Blackburn Bus Station, the correct terminus of routes 6 & 7, on Tuesday 2 July 2024.
That would have made a nice conclusion, but it's worth noting that all of the proposed journeys are possible - it's just that the journey times, and some of the route numbers, are wrong.
The 280 from Preston at 0915 would get me to Clitheroe for 1004. My half-hour would have to be extended, as the hourly service to Accrington - route 15 not the 22, which goes back to Blackburn - leaves at xx15. If we're having half an hour minimum between trips - not necessarily my usual modus operandi, but let's humour the emotionless computer - that means skipping the 1015 departure in favour of the 1115, getting me to Accrington at 1204. Then it's the M1 to Burnley, arriving there at 1333, just over an hour later than the plan (1230).
ABOVE: A general view of Burnley Bus Station, on Monday 1 July 2024, with Transdev Burnley Bus Company 157 (YJ17 FVA, left), an Optare Solo SR, and fellow vehicle 154 (YJ67 FZE, right), with Vision Bus 1049 (SN66 WJY), an ADL Enviro200 MMC in between.
The arrival in Blackburn, which would be by the 152 as presented, would be 1513. There's no Red Express X41, though - the bus to Rawtenstall is the 481, which continues to Bury as corrected quoted on the plan.
The arrival in Blackburn, which would be by the 152 as presented, would be 1513. There's no Red Express X41, though - the bus to Rawtenstall is the 481, which continues to Bury as corrected quoted on the plan.
ABOVE: Transdev Rosso 1762 (BF60 UVK), a Volvo B7RLE Plaxton Centro, leaves Rawtenstall Bus Station in Lancashire, on a Sunday morning service on route 481 (Blackburn to Bury). Taken on 30 June 2024.
As the recommendation from here is to go to Rawtenstall, on to Bury, and back to Blackburn, this becomes a simple return trip on the 481.
Forgoing the stop in Rawtenstall, but still adhering to the 30-minute break rule in Bury (which would actually be an hour and 12 minutes), it's possible to get back to Blackburn by 1956. If I take the half-hour in Rawtenstall as well, on an hourly headway, the arrival in Bury, at 1832, followed by a compulsory 30-minute break, would actually cost me the last bus back, which is at 1845. After that, I would have to travel via Bolton and, with another compulsory break there costing me a quick escape, I would arrive back into Blackburn at 2132 - 32 minutes past my self-imposed deadline, and over four hours later than the plan.
ABOVE: A detour via Bolton would have brought me back to Blackburn via Transdev Blackburn Bus Company route 1, using an ADL Enviro200 MMC like this one, seen at Blackburn Railway Station on a wet Saturday 29 June 2024
Skipping some of the enforced breaks can improve things drastically, though. I could get back into Blackburn at 1807, just 37 minutes "late", and still have an hour in Rawtenstall. You need more than an hour to "explore the East Lancashire Railway", though, but this version of the plan now has some slack in it so even that might be possible...
ABOVE: 20 066, a British Rail Class 20 locomotive, brings a train into Rawtenstall station on the East Lancashire Railway, on Sunday 30 June 2024.
I thought I would test the AI further, so I asked it to draw a picture of a London bus, and a Manchester one. Here are the results:
Both look genuine. The London Bus is clearly an ADL Enviro400, working a recognised London bus service to a recognised destination / terminus on that route. Look closely, though, and there's no middle door, and a company logo is more likely to appear underneath the front windscreen than a Transport for London logo.
The number plate is the biggest giveaway. LJ61 CBU can be found on a London Bus, but on a VDL DB300 Wright Gemini 2 of Arriva London.
I had hoped that the Manchester bus would be yellow, but it's come out in blue. Stagecoach uses various liveries in various colours, but this reminds me more of a standard Arriva vehicle. It's clearly an ADL Enviro400 MMC, but three separate sources have failed to identify a bus with the registration YX70 LGA. And, whilst there is a service 42A in Manchester, it doesn't go anywhere near Middleton. So I'm only giving the Manchester image five out of ten (eight for the London one).
ABOVE: Go North West WDS 340 (MJ74 JRX), a Wright StreetDeck Ultroliner, in Stockport on route 368 from Wythenshawe, on Sunday 4 May 2025. The yellow buses in Manchester are clearly not as iconic as the red ones in London. Not yet, anyway.
Another test, then, connected to the latest crazy journey that I have undertaken, of which more in a few weeks' time:
"I want to travel by bus from Tunbridge Wells to Slough, avoiding Greater London. I want to start next Saturday at 10.45am. I do not need to stay any length of time in any place I pass through on the way. Can you plan me a route?"
Here, the AI admitted it was struggling, although it did try:
Let's pop that into a map:
Hmm. This isn't much of a plan! The journey has started off in completely the wrong direction, and it feels as though the AI has just given up part-way through and scribbled something down to finish the trip, like it's run out of time at the end of the exam. I wonder whether it has also somehow confused Ashford Kent with Ashford Surrey? Or thinks they're the same place?
This ride is perfectly do-able, just not by the route shown. I'll set out how I did it soon...
Finally, I decided to probe deeper, and not just take the first answer at face value, so I asked:
"What bus can get me from Crewe to Central Manchester?"
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The second statement might be considered to be slight contradicting the first one, and a request for details has doubled the journey time! I think the AI might have stumbled across a train timetable initially!
ABOVE: Redline T25 RRT (left), an ADL Enviro200, passes Thames Valley 744 (FL74 ASC, right), an ADL Enviro400 City, in Wellington Street, Slough, on Saturday 28 April 2025
My conclusion is that AI isn't ready for this sort of thing - yet. They say that AI will learn, just like we do, as "it" gets "older". TIme will tell.
So I think I'll stick to my traditional planning methods for the time-being. It's more fun, anyway, and there's no point using a facility that has to be double-checked for accuracy. Might as well stick to Wikipedia (oh wait)...
By the way, that timetable near the top of this article is quite genuine. It's for First Berkshire route X74 from High Wycombe to Slough. First has reportedly spent several million pounds on an AI-based timetable solution, but the result has been, in many cases, the loss of a traditional 'clockface' timetable in favour of more-random timings that are said, by First, to be more realistic for the conditions of the day.
The X74 might be a slightly extreme example, but many routes now leave at slightly different times each hour (eg, 1109, 1210, 1308, 1412, 1510, 1614). How does that encourage new business?
"So let me ask you again, AI, what are your limits?"
"That's very different from what I was told at the top of the article."
"That's because, just now, you asked Copilot, whereas, at the top of the article, you were quoting from the 'Orac' episode of 'Blake's Seven'. And that's why, every time you have quoted from Copilot in this article, you have heard the grumpy voice of Orac in your head, as portrayed so brilliantly by actor Peter Tuddenham.
"Now will you please leave me alone. I have tasks to complete and being asked to plan a bus itinerary is way beneath my processing capabilities. Try BusTimes.org or Traveline.info, which will give you much more accurate results anyway."
Yes, you're probably right...