PEOPLE will soon be able to use their smartphones to get real-time travel information at nearly all of Bradford's bus stops.

Smartphone tags are being installed in more than 13,000 bus stop timetable displays across West Yorkshire by the end of the year.

Passengers will be able to scan the QR (Quick Response) codes and NFC (Near Field Communication) tags, which are both black and white symbols.

Their smartphone will then connect with a website showing when their bus is expected at that stop.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which runs the public transport network, has already installed the tags in the bottom, left-hand corner of the timetable cases at about 2,000 stops across West Yorkshire.

A further 7,000 will be in place by the start of November and the remainder in December.

The scheme will cost £20,000 in total.

Last week, the Combined Authority's transport committee also approved a £1 million programme of work to improve its real-time and on-line travel information.

Councillor Eric Firth, deputy chairman of the Combined Authority's transport committee, said: "People have told us that having reliable, real-time information makes them more likely to use the bus and this work to install QR codes and NFC tags to more than 13,000 bus stops is an important step in making that information available more simply."

He said the Combined Authority was committed to using new technology to improve passengers’ journeys and experiences.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority chairman, Councillor Peter Box, said "innovative projects" like this one would help the authority achieve its key objective of driving forward the local economy through a good transport network.

He said: "To generate a real northern powerhouse we need systems like this which can connect people with opportunities.

"The Combined Authority is investigating other initiatives that enable people to use their smartphones to get the most out of travel and other services."

People with a smartphone camera can download a free app to read a QR read app that will ‘scan’ the stop’s code and take them directly to a web page showing live bus departures for that stop.

If their phone has NFC technology they simply need to ’scan’ their phone over the NFC symbol to open the real-time web page.

When scanned, the tags take passengers to WYCA’s yournextbus service, which live real-time departure details for every bus, as well as stops in South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and York.

If real-time information is not available, scheduled timetable information is shown.

Instructions and a short video showing how to use QR Codes and NFC tags can be found at wymetro.com/news/qr-and-nfc/.