Where’s that bus? I don’t want to miss the train show.
Where’s that bus? There’s a cold rain falling.
I might fall asleep and miss my stop.
I’m thirsty and the water bottle is empty.
CC will throw the first pitch soon.
I need to make dinner for the boys.
I don’t want my wife to walk home in the dark.
He’s already held it in for so long.
I’m gonna end up in the first fucking row and my neck’s gonna be sore for a week.
Where’s that damn bus?
Technology exists underground, for most of New York, that tracks the trains along their route. Screens display the time of the next arriving train. And then the next one after that. No such service on the A Train. Nothing doing at the bus stops. You wait unknowing or you walk.
I guess the Blue Line doesn’t utilize that technology for the same reason that A and C Trains are the oldest, crappiest trains in the system. Nobody wants to spend any money on the A and the C. And I’m sure there is some preposterous reason why the MTA can’t develop an app that will track a bus as it inches through traffic as the frozen darkness descends upon your stop.
But c’mon, man. In this day and age, there’s no way we should be helplessly wondering where’s that bus.
And I’m sure there is some preposterous reason why the MTA can’t develop an app that will track a bus as it inches through traffic as the frozen darkness descends upon your stop.
Long story short, they screwed up their money so bad they have to wait for someone enterprising to do it for them, then buy it from them on a promissory note. Unfortunately (in this case), most app developers (especially ones who would go through hell to develop such an app) are a bit too smart to fall for that one.
I often think about that too. Waiting for the bus. You are all out there in the wilderness by yourself.
[1] Yes, that would make sense if there was no such thing as a GPS tracking app already developed.
We could track runners all over the 5 boroughs by the chip in their marathon bibs. Why couldn't the exact same code be deployed for buses w/ chips in them?
Interesting. In super high tech Tokyo there is no bus tracking system either. We all stare longingly in the direction of the oncoming traffic. Sometimes I try not to look, hoping that will cause the bus to come. But I can only hold out for so long.
Yesterday, I missed two buses as I was waiting to cross the street. That hurt.
Actually, some one invented an app that helps people find seats in trains. If you sign on you tell others what train & car you are on, where you are sitting and when you will be getting off.
It seems like a lot of trouble to me. I prefer the old fashioned way, trying to suss out when folks will be getting off and hovering over their seats.