Thousands of Metrobus riders are using new technology to help them know when the next bus is on its way, but users are still learning its quirks and the new system still has to work out some of those bugs.
Metro’s new NextBus system, which uses GPS signaling to help predict when a bus will arrive at a given stop, has been used about a half-million times since it was restarted July 1. Riders call in to an interactive system on the phone or visit a Web site to find out when the next bus will come.
* Data current through Sept. 21. Source: Metro Month
phone calls
Web views
complaints
July
69,242
152,881
87
August
87,197
143,052
49
September*
65,507
99,780
13
The service puts Metro at the forefront among large bus services and has won praise from transit and technology experts alike. It has not received many official complaints, with just fewer than 150 filed.
“It’s great. It’s certainly a big help to me as a rider,” said Metro Board member Christopher Zimmerman, who taps in with his BlackBerry. “People tell me it’s one of the best things that’s come along in a while.”
But the voice recognition software has a hard time hearing voices over curbside traffic. Some riders report ghost buses that never appear (likely buses taken out of service en route) or buses that show up without notice (likely because the forecasting equipment isn’t on or working).
Some users have battled with the phone system, not knowing they can bypass a cumbersome automated phone menu by saying “NextBus.”
The agency also has had trouble with vandalism of some of the 12,000 signs at bus stops, so it plans to raise them above their 6-foot height, said Chief Information Officer Suzanne Peck.
The agency also has had trouble with vandalism of some of the 12,000 signs at bus stops, so it plans to raise them above their 6-foot height, said Chief Information Officer Suzanne Peck.
The system is trying to make sure bus operators turn on the system and that all the equipment is working.
“It’s a huge undertaking: 12,000 bus stops, each of which has to accurate, each of which has to have a sign, with buses rolling past them in exquisite health and the operator doing all the right things,” Peck said.
The service costs Metro $18,200 a month, she said, including $15,000 for the predictive bus service, plus $3,200 for electronic signs at the six busiest bus stations.
But the agency is spending the money with hopes that it will make buses more enticing despite a reputation of being perennially late and unreliable. The transit agency is nearing capacity on the rail system but can still add service on buses.
It’s too early to know if the system has affected bus ridership, Peck said.
Furthermore, it doesn’t solve the biggest problem for buses. “It can be helpful,” said Shalonda Brown, 28, who was waiting for a bus with her 2-year-old daughter Camille. “But with traffic. … You know how traffic is.”
