An unexpected consequence of opening up data: London transport news

I blogged recently about the welcome moves being made to open up London’s transport data to wider use. A great example of what opening up data can produce is the map showing the locations of tube trains [now defunct] on the network in real time – available for free and produced thanks to the enthusiasm and civic-mindedness of volunteers.

But with the current tube strikes in mind, it also shows how opening up data can produce unexpected consequences. Because what is one of the standard parts of transport strikes? It’s conflicting claims from unions and management about how widespread the impact of the strike really is. Courtesy of the real time map, next time we hear such conflicting comments we can all look at evidence directly for ourselves.