announcements are also made regularly. Local authorities and some transport operators provide electronic versions of the bus timetables to the Traveline information service, which covers all public transport modes, and from there to other information services such as Transport Direct, and Google Transit. The deployment of real-time bus information systems is a gradual process and currently extends to around half of the national fleet and a high proportion of town-centre stops but relatively few suburban and rural locations. The first use of such systems was in Brighton and Hove. The Traveline NextBuses information service provides the next departures from any bus stop in the UK, and some trams as well. The information has the real-time feed that has been connected in; otherwise, the scheduled times are given. The government-sponsored Transport Direct project provided journey planning across all transport modes (including private car) and was increasingly linked to real-time information systems prior to its discontinuation in 2014. United States Real-time passenger information was brought to riders in the US by NextBus corporation, a small start-up, in 1999. The first systems were installed in Emeryville, California, and later in San Francisco, California. , both initial systems are still in operation. The Washington Metro installed a passenger information display system (PIDS) in all of its stations in 2000. The system provides real-time information on next train arrivals, delayed trains, emergency announcements, and related information. Metro also provides current train and related information to customers with conventional web browsers, as well as users of smartphones and other mobile devices. In 2010, Metro began sharing its PIDS data with outside software developers for use in creating additional real-time applications for mobile devices. Free apps are available to the public on major mobile device software platforms (iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Palm). The system also began providing real-time train information by phone in 2010. The New York City Subway began installing its public address/customer information screens, commonly known as "countdown clocks", in its stations in 2007. In 2012, the system began offering SubTime, a website and iPhone app for real-time train arrival estimates for several of its subway services, and the arrival data are shared with outside software developers to support creation of additional apps. There are also PIDS installed on some MTA Regional Bus Operations routes over the years, but mostly, the MTA offers real-time bus tracking through another website/app called MTA Bus Time. The Boston