Placr News

History

Ten days ago I blogged on the strange case of the disappearing MDV MyTfL journey planner app, which appeared in the iTunes app store without fanfare (somewhat against TfL policy) and then disappeared again 24 hours later without explanation (pulled by TfL senior management). I described the affair as “a microcosm of political and economic conflicts to come around apps and data”, and so it has turned out with another tragic chapter in this story written in the last few days.

A week after the MyTfL app was withdrawn the open (but undocumented) TfL JourneyPlanner API was suddenly shut down, taking several apps with it, including two by Malcolm Barclay serving 100,000 users. The London DataStore was advised that this was a routine security procedure following attacks on TfL servers. It seems much more likely that this was revenge for the withdrawal of the app as I tweeted out last Thursday. The give-away was that not all the API calls were blocked: /lite, /imr and /bc still worked and only /user/XML_ was withdrawn, i.e. the part that gives back journey options in response to a query. If there had been a real security incident all of the service would have been taken offline. Wired have since picked up the story and have raised several interesting questions about the ownership of the API and data it serves.

Consequences

Although the consequences of this withdrawal were severe for current apps and development work e.g. OpenTfL, there were wider implications. By releasing transport data to the developer community and promoting the reuse of this data, TfL hope to benefit from the work of developers to produce value from the data. Hence the apps that have been released around the London Cycle Hire scheme e.g. London Cycle have meant that TfL have not needed to spend public money on writing their own. TfL simply cannot have this both ways… getting free apps and innovation around their services, but also issuing their own apps to achieve internal managerial agendas. If the climate for private sector innovation is clouded by TfL intervention with public funds then the developers will have to turn elsewhere as the risks will be too high. Ultimately, this could stop jobs being created in London if TfL’s strategy is not thought through.

Denouement

As it turns out, TfL have been forced to retreat (again) after concerted action by the London DataStore to take up the issue of the API withdrawal with TfL senior management. The API was restored yesterday and is working again normally. This episode has further raised the level of importance and visibility of the issue of data releases from TfL. Senior management have now seized back the initiative and are now promising to quickly produce a proper API for developers to use. I look forward to hearing more about this at tomorrow’s meeting of the Mayor’s Digital Advisory Board. Meanwhile, we at Placr will carry on with our investments in our transport API and hope to announce services for consumers and developers in the near future.

Jonathan Raper