Terms of use
Short version: the service is free, the maps are a carefully-checked guide rather than live times, you keep the credits on the maps, and you only make maps for places you have a genuine reason to represent.
Working draft — last reviewed 25 July 2026; to be confirmed before the service opens publicly. The system is currently a pilot, with one organisation signed up and no income. This is a plain-English starting point, not legal advice.
Who this is for
These terms are between BusMaps.uk (“we”, “us”) and an approved organisation and the people it invites to use the service on its behalf (“you”). They apply once your application is approved and you have an account.
The service
It’s free, and community-run
There is no charge and we take no payment details. It is a small community project, offered as it is, and we may change, pause or withdraw parts of it — we’ll try to give reasonable notice for anything that affects a published map.
What you can do
Within your agreed quota you can request area or place maps, and for a built map you can recolour routes, toggle landmarks on or off, choose which of the standard outputs it produces, save versions, and send a version to us for review. Bigger changes (geometry and layout) are made centrally by us.
Your side of the deal
Represent only what you may
Ask for maps only for an area or place you have a genuine reason to represent — your parish, your shop, your school, your event. Don’t imply that a bus operator, a council or anyone else endorses your map when they don’t.
Look after your access
We sign you in with a one-time link to your email rather than a password. Keep your email account secure, and don’t share your sign-in links. Tell us if you think someone else has got into your account.
Keep it accurate and fair
Give us correct details, and use the editor for its purpose. Don’t try to get around the limits on what can be edited, overload the service, or use it to mislead.
Get it checked before it’s public
Only a version a reviewer has approved becomes the published, public map. Don’t present an unpublished draft as the official map, and don’t alter a downloaded map in a way that changes the service information or removes the credits.
Accuracy — and the honest limit of a printed map
Every map is reviewed by a person before it is published — a check that it looks right, not an independent verification against timetables. Bus services change regardless, and a printed sheet can’t show today’s times. So the maps are a guide to which buses go where, not live departure information — every map says to check times with the operator or at bustimes.org, and you should keep that message with the map. If you spot something wrong, tell us from that map’s page and we’ll look into it.
Using and sharing the maps
Published maps are meant to be used: print them, put them on a noticeboard, include them in a newsletter or a community leaflet. The maps are built from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL) and UK bus open data via BODS (Open Government Licence); keep the credits that appear on the map. See our privacy & licensing page for the detail.
Ownership
© BusMaps.uk. This map is licensed, not sold: the commissioning organisation may reproduce and display it without limit for as long as it remains accurate. BusMaps.uk retains ownership and may reuse the underlying data and design elsewhere. Redistribution by third parties (other than the commissioning organisation) requires permission.
Your data
What we hold and why — and how to ask for a copy, a correction or deletion — is set out in the privacy & licensing notice. In short: only what we need to run the service, no tracking, no selling of your details.
Suspending or ending
You can stop using the service at any time — tell us and we’ll close your account. We may suspend or withdraw a map or an account if these terms are broken, if a map raises a safety or accuracy concern we can’t quickly resolve, or if we have to stop offering the service. Where we withdraw a published map we’ll say why.
Liability
The service and the maps are provided as they are, without warranties, and free of charge. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for loss arising from relying on a map or from the service being unavailable. Nothing here limits any liability that can’t be limited by law (for example for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud).
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as the service develops. We’ll date the page (above) and, for changes that materially affect you, tell account holders. Continuing to use the service after a change means you accept the updated terms.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and its courts have jurisdiction.