If a service displays as Scheduled rather than showing a live countdown or estimated time, it means the board is relying on timetable data because live tracking for that vehicle is temporarily unavailable. The bus may still arrive on time or run late, but real-time data cannot be confirmed.
Common reasons include:
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Ticket Machine GPS is Offline: Most operators use ticket machines such as Ticketer or Vix (outside of TfL networks). If the vehicle's machine has an internal GPS fault, cannot acquire satellites, or suffers a broader system outage, live coordinates cannot be broadcast.
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Loss of Mobile Signal: Ticket machines stream location data to central operator servers via cellular networks, which then feed into the Bus Open Data Service (BODS) and Transport API. When a bus travels through mobile dead zones or areas with weak reception, telemetry updates pause until the vehicle re-enters network coverage.
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Service Not Logged In: If a driver has not yet signed into the ticket machine, selected the wrong trip/duty, or is driving a temporary replacement vehicle without active tracking, the system cannot link the physical bus to the scheduled run.
What Happens Next?
As soon as the ticket machine reconnects to mobile data, restores GPS lock, or the trip is properly initialized, the departure board automatically updates from "Scheduled" back to live countdown predictions.