Transparency Statement

Last Updated: 7 December 2025

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At MBT, transparency is one of our core principles. We want every user to understand how our service operates, what it costs to run, and why certain features may require a small subscription fee. Our goal is simple: keep MBT accessible to everyone while ensuring the platform can sustainably operate long-term.

Our Commitment

MBT will always be free to use. Any feature that is currently free will remain free permanently. We will never place existing free features behind a paywall.

Paid features are introduced only when a feature has an ongoing cost to operate. If we can offer something at no cost, we will.

Keeping Costs Low

To keep subscription prices and operational costs as low as possible, MBT self-hosts the majority of its infrastructure. This avoids expensive third-party service fees and allows us to run the platform far more efficiently than typical commercial solutions.

Whenever a component can be self-hosted safely and reliably, we choose that option. This is the primary reason MBT can operate sustainably while keeping user costs minimal.

Current Running Costs

• Main Server: £60/month
• Storage Server: £10/month
• Domain: £13/year (~£1/month)
• Map Tiles: Free from Bonnie
• Snap-to-Road Infrastructure: ~£40/month
• Mail Services: £10/month
• CDN: Self-hosted

Total estimated monthly running cost: £121.

Why Some Features Are Paid

The only paid features are those that require significant server resources or recurring costs. Snap-to-Road is the primary example. If MBT relied on an external routing provider, the expected cost would be £400–£700 per month.

By self-hosting, this cost is reduced to £40–£50 per month, allowing us to keep pricing low.

Subscription Levels

• Basic (£0.99) – Removes ads.
• Pro (£3.99) – Includes Snap-to-Road + Auto Timetables.

Backups & Data Safety

• Every 10 minutes (kept 24 hours)
• Every 1 hour (kept 7 days)

Data & Privacy

We never sell your data. Only required operational data is stored.

You can request a full data export or deletion at any time.

Staff access is minimal and strictly role-based.

Advertising Transparency

Current ad provider: Google AdSense.

Transition to Ad First Media begins early 2026.

Open Source

GitHub: https://github.com/NextStopLabs/MyBusTimes

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Data Pages

• MBT Data
• Stop Data

Our Promise

We will always communicate clearly about costs, features, and data practices. Paid features will only ever exist when necessary to cover real infrastructure costs.

If you have questions, contact us any time.