TransportAPI

What TransportAPI does

TransportAPI (legal entity Placr Limited, founded 2011/2012 in London, UK) is a managed services provider for UK multimodal transport data. It operates a RESTful JSON API platform — with WebSocket streaming options — that handles the full data lifecycle (creation, storage, maintenance, publishing, analysis, archival) and aggregates normalised data from hundreds of UK sources including Traveline TNDS, BODS, NaPTAN, NOC, Network Rail SCHEDULE/CORPUS/TRUST, National Rail Enquiries Darwin Push Port, and Transport for London Open Data. The product suite comprises TAPI Journey Planner, TAPI Bus Information, TAPI Bus Performance, TAPI Bus Disruptions, TAPI Rail Information, TAPI Rail Performance, TAPI Places, and NextBubes, covering nationwide bus, rail, coach, tram, metro, ferry, cycle, car, and taxi modes with GTFS export and Traffic Commissioner compliance reporting.

The company serves UK bus operators (FirstGroup, National Express West Midlands), rail operators, airports (Heathrow), local authorities and combined authorities (Transport for the North, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority), digital agencies (Future Platforms, IDEO, Spider Online, The App Business, Fabrik), and automotive clients (Ford for connected vehicle telematics), with over 10,000 developer signups powering approximately 25% of UK transit apps by operator market share and serving ~1 billion API requests per month.

Revenue is generated through tiered subscription plans plus usage-based/PAYG overage: a free 30 requests/day tier for evaluation, a Home User tier at 300 requests/day, Business Package PAYG plans, and enterprise managed services contracts with SLAs negotiated via direct sales. Go-to-market is API-first, combining a self-serve developer portal for product-led adoption with targeted enterprise sales to blue-chip transport operators and public sector organisations, and reseller relationships with digital agency partners. The company operates with a 1–10 person team, is bootstrapped (no disclosed funding rounds), and is led by co-founder Jonathan Raper.

Name

TransportAPI

Legal name

Placr Limited

Website

https://transportapi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transport Data APIs

NAICS

Support Activities for Transportation (488), Other Support Activities for Transportation (4889)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTLAEADAA

Real-Time Shipment Tracking & Map Visualization

Transportation & Logistics/Logistics Technology & Telematics (TMS/WMS, Tracking, ELD/IoT)/Freight Visibility, Tracking & Predictive ETA Platforms

Keywords

• UK transport data APIs
• Real-time passenger information
• Multimodal journey planning
• Public transit data services
• Transport managed services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription-based API Access: Monthly or annual subscription plans for API access with tiered request allowances. Free plan provides 30 requests/day; paid Home User plan offers 300 requests/day; Business Package Plan provides higher volume PAYG access. Revenue is recurring subscription-based with usage-based overage components.
2. Managed Services Subscriptions: Tiered subscription plans (like Netflix) offering access to different managed service products including TAPI Journey Planner, TAPI Bus Information, TAPI Rail Information, TAPI Places, TAPI Bus Performance, and TAPI Rail Performance. Plans differentiated by request volume and feature access.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

TransportAPI operates a suite of cloud-managed API services that aggregate, normalize and publish UK multimodal transport data (bus, rail, metro, coach, tram, ferry, cycle, car, taxi) for developers and transport operators. Its products handle the full data lifecycle — creation, storage, maintenance, publishing, analysis, and archival — delivered via RESTful JSON APIs (with WebSocket streaming) covering journey planning, real-time departures, places lookup, performance analytics, disruptions, and fares.

Product overview

TransportAPI is a managed services platform providing multimodal UK transport data through a suite of specialized API products. The portfolio comprises TAPI Journey Planner (multimodal journey planning), TAPI Bus Information (realtime bus departures and schedules), TAPI Bus Performance (fleet analytics), TAPI Bus Disruptions (disruption data), TAPI Rail Information (rail departures and timetables), TAPI Rail Performance (historical rail journey archive), TAPI Places (transport access point lookup), and NextBuses (Traveline-powered national bus departures). All services are delivered via RESTful JSON APIs with data quality monitoring, GTFS export capabilities, and support for both polling and streaming access patterns.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TAPI Journey Planner Multimodal journey planning managed service supporting bus, train, metro, coach, tram, light rail, cycle, car, ferry and taxi modes. Single API integration with a choice of multiple journey planner engines (SilverRail, TfL, OTP, R5, OSRM, CycleStreets, TaxiCode) balanced for cost, speed and detail.
• TAPI Bus Information Nationwide bus passenger information service providing realtime and scheduled bus data via REST JSON API or subscription APIs. Includes departure boards, buses on a map, occupancy data, and GTFS export. Covers metro, coach, tram, light rail and ferry schedules across Great Britain.
• TAPI Bus Performance Bus fleet performance analytics service providing reliability metrics, punctuality measurements, traversal time analysis, and Traffic Commissioner compliance reports. Supports filtering by operator, service, time periods, and geographic resolution via REST JSON API.
• TAPI Bus Disruptions Bus disruption data service providing real-time disruption information for major conurbations outside London, sourced directly from local authority feeds via SIRI-SX.
• TAPI Rail Information Nationwide rail passenger information service providing realtime rail departures, timetables, and GTFS export. Powered by Network Rail SCHEDULE/CORPUS data and Darwin Web Service from National Rail Enquiries.
• TAPI Rail Performance Historical rail performance data archive providing delay-repay evidence, schedule changes, cancellations, and journey behavior analysis. Based on Darwin Pushport official National Rail feed with temporal 'Time Travel' feature.
• TAPI Places Transport access points lookup API for Great Britain covering bus stops, rail/tube/metros/tram stations, postcodes, POIs, settlements, regions and streets. Supports translation between CRS codes, TIPLOC codes, ATCO codes, postcodes and geographic coordinates.
• NextBuses Nationwide real-time bus departure information service available via SIRI-SM XML, TransportAPI JSON, or SMS. Expanded national coverage through partnership with Traveline.
• TAPI Bus Fares Britain's first Bus Fares API; managed service delivering fresh bus fares data in compliance with the 2017 Bus Services Act requirements.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25% reduction in bus usage among Lancaster University students (increased by more than a quarter)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Traveline (NextBuses Partnership)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026New partnership in 2026 where TransportAPI manages and operates the NextBuses service nationally, expanding live bus information coverage and bringing new scale and innovation to the service.
• Transport for the NorthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2019Selected to deliver the TfN Open Data Hub (ODH) working with Trapeze Group as part of the £150 million Integrated and Smart Travel Programme. Hub integrates disruption and fares data from operators and local authorities for real-time travel information across Northern England.
• FirstGroup PLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-year strategic partnership (extended for 3 years in 2021) where TransportAPI delivers multimodal travel information to FirstGroup customers across rail and bus apps and websites. TransportAPI developed multiple adapters for SIRI SM and aggregated different RTI sources into a single consistent source for First Bus.
• FordmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Ford Driver Behaviour Mobility project, processing approximately 40 billion data packets from 50 connected vehicles over six months. Developed data models and API for structured aggregation enabling interactive queries on fleet behaviour.
• Trapeze GroupcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartnered with Trapeze Group on Transport for the North Open Data Hub delivery, combining TransportAPI's data expertise with Trapeze's transport software capabilities.
• National Express West MidlandsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped SIRI VM infrastructure for real-time bus tracking with buses on a map functionality. Imported NXWM's own schedule data in TransXChange format to enable cross-referencing between live movements and national schedules.
• Heathrow AirportmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped high-level architecture for Heathrow's journey planning service, linking airport asset databases to journey planners with custom places for complex 3D car park geometry.
• Lancaster UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership between Lancaster University, Lancaster City Council, and United Utilities using TransportAPI data to power iLancaster mobile platform and LCD departure boards at Lancaster Bus Station.
• TravelinecoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary data source for Traveline National Dataset (TNDS) containing UK bus schedules, National Coach Services Dataset (NCSD), and NextBuses SIRI SM. Partnership expanded in 2026 to include NextBuses managed service migration.
• Network RailcoreTechnology or IntegrationSource of train station timetables via SCHEDULE and CORPUS data, and real-time train movements via TRUST data feeds.
• National Rail Enquiries / Rail Delivery GroupcoreTechnology or IntegrationProvider of Darwin Push Port data for train service live departures and alteration information. Darwin Web Service Staff data feed used for rail RTI.
• Transport for London (TfL)majorTechnology or IntegrationSource of TfL Open Data including tube service live departures, tube service timetables, and TfL bus timetables and live departures. Journey planner engine option via TfL API.
• OpenStreetMapmajorTechnology or IntegrationSource of car journey routing and returned geometry, bus stop position corrections, and bus route geometry generation. Licensed under Open Data Commons Open Database License.
• Future PlatformsmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDigital agency partner that developed the award-winning FirstBus mobile app using TransportAPI as primary data source for real-time departure boards and stop information.
• IDEOminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal design consultancy partnered with TransportAPI on a global automotive company project, bringing real world transport data into innovation discovery work.
• Spider OnlineminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDigital agency partner using TransportAPI managed services as reliable data source for multiple client projects over several years.
• The App BusinessminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMobile app development agency that relied on TransportAPI for right data in easy-to-consume format, valuing professionalism, clear communication, and roadmap flexibility.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Masabi: UK-based B2B platform providing mobile ticketing, fare collection, and passenger-information APIs to transit operators; comparable customer base (UK bus and rail) and developer-first delivery model.
• Spare: Transit management platform combining on-demand microtransit, fixed-route, and passenger information APIs; competes in the same operator/authority buyer category with developer-first tooling.
• Optibus: Cloud-based transit operations and data platform used by bus operators and agencies for scheduling, rostering, and on-street performance; comparable managed-service delivery and operator-customer segment.
• Tracsis: UK rail and transport data software business (now part of Modaxo) covering scheduling, performance, and passenger information; close analog in UK rail data and analytics, particularly competing with TAPI Rail Performance.
• Swiftly: US-based transit data platform providing real-time bus and rail APIs, GTFS tooling, and performance analytics to transit agencies; directly comparable product offering and developer-portal go-to-market.
• Remix (by Via): Transit planning and data platform for agencies and operators offering multimodal network analysis, GTFS tooling, and scenario planning; comparable developer and authority customer base.
• Bytemark: UK-focused transit ticketing and passenger information platform for operators; similar B2B buyer (bus and rail operators) and overlapping product surface around fares and real-time information.

Broad incumbents

• Trapeze Group: Established transport-software vendor (part of Modaxo) offering scheduling, CAD/AVL, and passenger information suites; broader portfolio but overlaps with TransportAPI on data aggregation and TfN Open Data Hub delivery.
• Conduent Transportation: Large incumbent providing transit fare collection, mobility, and public transport data solutions; overlaps with TransportAPI on passenger information and transit data integration, especially in the UK public sector.
• Cubic Transportation Systems: Major incumbent in transit fare collection, real-time passenger information, and traffic management; broader portfolio but competes for the same transport authority and operator technology budgets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/transportapi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TransportAPI