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Bad news today for riders who use the 32 Metro bus routes that take part in the NextBus tracking system. Or, good news for those who are tired of the system giving out bunk information.
WMATA plans to suspend the notification service by late October for up to 18 months, saying it's not accurate enough to expand as-is to the other 306 system routes, reports the Post.
The program, which uses a GPS system to track buses and update riders on how soon they will hit stops, is only accurate about 80 percent of the time, Metro officials said. That rating is apparently not up to snuff with the standards of Metro chief John Catoe.
While we readily give two points to Catoe for not letting a sub-par system slip through the cracks, and there are obviously plenty of other things on which Metro could focus their time and attention, it's annoying that the program was rolled out and never completely worked. This announcement also reminds us to ask, hey Mr. Catoe, what ever happened to getting the Metro train arrival notification board's bugs worked out? Those still seem to be wrong most of the time, too.
What has your experience with NextBus been like? Will you miss it, or did its problems cause you to give up on it before this announcement?
Photo by Flickr user hey-helen
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After using NextBus just about every day on the 30-series since it started, I'd say it gave me correct info about 25 percent of the time. Most of the times it either said "No information is available on the next bus" or gives times that are wildly off the mark.
Nextbus bit me in the ass a couple days ago-I was riding the J4 from College Park to Bethesda and it said 33 minutes until the next bus. I assumed I had JUST missed one, so I sat down to enjoy a book and when I randomly glanced up 5 minutes later, there went my bus. I realize that was my fault, but only because nextbus told me one wouldn't be coming-I'd say it was accurate about half the time.
Hopefully they'll fix the voice recognition software. I've only tried to use the system a few times, each time for the 96 to McLean Gardens and each time it would ask if I was looking for any 90-something line BUT the 96. "Did you say 93?" No. "I'm sorry, please say the name of the line." 96 "Did you say 90?" No. "I'm sorry ... " 96 "Did you say 94?" NO!!
I used it on the 90 routes a lot. It initially worked really well before they expanded the pilot from the 3 routes to 33 routes. Once that happened, it got really wacky. I think changing the 90 route to always stop at the Ellington Bridge also caused some confusion in the system. The last few times I tried using it, it gave me wildly incorrect data. (No current prediction for a 90, and a 92 was 48 minutes away, at rush hour. WTF? A 90 came 10 minutes later.)
Let's get it working right, then roll it out. But also, it doesn't make much sense to prioritize busy lines. Nextbus is best for lines with 20+ minute headways. It has a hard time working for routes like the 30s with such frequent service during the peak.
I also used for the 90 buses, and it was frequently off. Once it told me the next bus was in 20 minutes, though I could clearly see it a few blocks away.
Also, I hated how you usually had to hang up and redial to get another bus at the same station. They might have fixed that recently, but it was certainly a pain in the ass while it lasted.
On the 16, the problem was always that three or four buses were never visible to the system. I know the schedule of my bus well enough to guess when the system was dropping a bus. From its appearance to me, it was accurate for the buses it could track, it just can't find all of the buses.
(It could be WMATA's system is the largest and most complicated this company has tried to outfit.)
--Wes McGee
Duh,
It didn't work on 38B through Arlington a few years ago either. That system ticked me off so many times I gave up and took the slower route, which was Metro.
A neighbor worked in the Arl Cty Transportation office at the time, and he said usually the problem (then) was that the drivers did not turn the system on (sabatoge?) or Metro shuffled their fleet around and didn't always have busses equipped with the system running that route.
Expanding on that last comment, and this is pure speculation, but if I had to guess I would say that a lot of drivers learned how to turn off the nextbus. I'm sure they didn't like being tracked and for their supervisors to know when they purposely weren't following the schedule (as many drivers do, especially late-night). Because WMATA doesn't have any route supervisors out late at night, nextbus was the only way to monitor drivers.
I hate union employees
Thanks for the update on nextbus, as I had been trying to get one from WMATA themselves. This is VERY discouraging... Why can't they get this to work. This is the #1 thing keeping me from using the bus system. Not knowing when the next bus is coming is a major hassle. Especially with the way buses are "managed" here.
Wow. I've used NextBus for the past year on the 30 bus and its been right almost 70% of the time. I should have known something when they didn't promote the website or the SMS service. Its sad because this could have been a high priority for bus riders who continually get shafted because of metrorail.
Tsk. Unfortunate indeed. I use the Next Bus system on the Fairfax City CUE bus line (runs between Vienna and GMU).
It worked 99% of the time. The 1% issue was when the entire system was down... and it would say so. Because the suburban buses usually have at least 30 min wait times (1 hr during weekends) this service is phenomenal and indispensable to planning and deciding which bus route to take. It's not urgent on service that runs every 6 minutes.
I'd say that if Metro can focus on getting this system to work overall bus ridership would skyrocket, specifically with people who can't afford to just hang out and wait for the next bus.
Although accessibility for all users is an issue, they should primarily focus on getting the internet-enabled system to work (it works for the CUE buses), then branch out to sms and then voice.
I don't agree that the notification boards are often wrong for the trains. Its annoying that they have to spend so much time posting which elevators are out, but I've never been annoyed with other glitches.
Nice call on using NextBus for routes with more infrequent service, recyclist.
I'd be satisfied if every stop I use had a bench and a shelter. On topic: I tried to use it on Wisconsin Avenue. ONCE. Didn't get an answer before the bus showed up on its own, and I was on the phone for at least 5 minutes. (That's after waiting 10 minutes before I used it since I didn't believe it would work.)
I have used NextBus with 38B (Ballston to Farragut West). Sometimes it has wrong information, and sometimes the system is just down and has no information at all. But I'd say it has been available and accurate for me about 75% of the time.
I wish it were better, but I'd rather have a 75% accurate system than no system at all. Especially on a route like this with 30 minutes between buses on Saturdays. If the bus ran every 5 or 10 minutes, like Metro trains, I wouldn't bother with nextbus at all.
I am glad that they want to come up with a better system, but I would like to see them keep this system up and running while they develop the new one.
I can't comment on NextBus, because it was never available for any of the lines I use regularly. So, yeah.
I'd loved some fixed Metro next train notification boards, though. The one at King Street towards the city has been wonky since I moved to Alexandria. In 2005.