Believe me when I tell you it works pretty well! But not completely, yet.
As we have tested the mobile and desktop versions, we have found problems with how they interpret our stop or bus data. We also want to offer rider alerts through these tools so you can know if there are impacts to the route you will be traveling on. Getting only the route alerts that are relevant to the stop you choose was a little trickier than we anticipated.
The BusFinder by Phone tool is a completely different animal. It uses the same data, but in a different way and will provide stop times for the next five buses, whether they are real-time or scheduled times. There are several issues unique to the phone tool that we are working on.The biggest problem we have had for all these tools has to do with the complexity of our operations. On any given day, our dispatch may drop a trip, add a trip or reassign a bus. This may be due to traffic, weather conditions, mechanical issues or other operational challenges at that time. In any case, once these changes are made, a bus may disappear, suddenly materialize or turn into another trip from a customer perspective.
We want to make sure BusFinder captures this so it doesn’t show a bus departing in 5 minutes that is not going to be there. Or show no buses departing that stop, then suddenly a bus is there. This is how our buses really operate and what you should expect from a real-time tool.
Last week, we had a major BusFinder operational systems integration test (OSIT). This involved live buses, dummy buses and even our next bus signs at Ash Way, Lynnwood Transit Center and Mountlake Terrace. To our delight, many of the operational changes we were testing showed up correctly! But not all of them.
The best I can say is that we are “getting there!” We won’t give a launch date ahead of time. It is likely that BusFinder will suddenly go live and we will use our website and social media to get the word out. Once we feel confident it works well with many customers using it, we will begin a promotional campaign. Thanks for your patience. Hang in there!
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Sure will be nice. Bus already 20 mins late.
ReplyDeleteDid you consider integrating more with one bus away? Do you need some user testing?
ReplyDeleteHear hear! Why build your own app when OBA is so widely used and well supported?
DeleteI would love to have something like this. Will your information also be uploaded to OneBusAway that was developed by the UW which includes regional bus service as well - Metro for example.
ReplyDeletewhat you need is a board of directors finder.....who had the bright idea of doing construction at ash way during the bulk of rush hour traffic...now I know that your CEO who I understand is now the highest paid director of a transit agency on the west coast is a smart person and I would hope would have more consideration for the riders and her employees who have to deal with this mess...tell the board and your the CEO to maybe try and ride a bus every now and then to see how your not so smart decisions affect the people that pay your salaries.....also Martin ...since I use ash way as a transfer point on my commute should I consider changing my commute route with all the new housing going up next to the park and ride.....traffic is bad now and I see it only getting worse in the future...any plans to improve a transit center that has 9 busses that use 1 zone...by the way that was a brilliant idea from the planning dept...LTC has 18 zones and you use 13 of them,smart people you have there at CT.....my suggestion at ash way is to put in a traffic light for the busses so the busses don't take forever to get in and out....but what do I know I'm only a commuter
ReplyDeleteWhen it launches, BusFinder will provide real-time information for Community Transit buses and Sound Transit buses that operate out of Snohomish County. The question of integration with OneBusAway will be taken up after launch, as the priority now is to get this project up and running.
ReplyDeleteTo all the OBA users, why would CT use a proven and existing system? Every one needs a job and by starting from scratch it provides lots of work, it is public money anyway and since when did a public agency do anything the easy way? much better to spend years developing and testing their own, that probably won't integrate with anything in the end.
ReplyDeleteStill waiting..........
ReplyDeleteYeah... and STILL waiting! WTF is wrong with Community Transit??? In the time that OneBusAway has been available I have wasted a month of my life standing uselessly at the bus stop waiting for the bus... time that could have been spent productively at my computer. I could be earning an extra vacation day every month with the 20-30 minutes I waste every day. CT doesn't care ~@$#%&@ about their riders. Seriously? They could have hired a consultant from Metro or Pierce and had OBA up and running in a couple of months... AND THEN moved on to their pet project. OBA may not be perfect, but it's better than not having anything. I am boycotting any taxable purchases in Snohomish County until they get their $ht together!
ReplyDeleteToday, April 10th, no Busfinder working. Hey CT is the link down?
ReplyDelete