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Easy explanations of how to use NextBus for Efficient Public Transit Travel

The San Francisco Bay area boasts excellent public transit systems in the city itself and in surrounding counties. AC Transit is notable not only for a well-run system, but for its effectiveness in marketing the benefits of public transit to its passengers.

AC Transit is the third-largest bus-only transit system in California, serving over 400 square miles of the East Bay. For over forty years, AC Transit has been dedicated to providing quality mass transit. Every weekday, over 230,000 people ride their fleet of nearly 800 buses.  They run buses on 105 routes with more than 6500 stops.

They have committed to NextBus to improve bus travel for their millions of annual passengers.  To make the most of their NextBus implementation, they have recently added advertising to their bus shelters.  Now, even passersby get the message about how easy it is to use public transit and to stay on time.

Learn about More Examples of Effective Marketing from AC Transit

AC Transit has created ACT for Me as “Your Guide to the Future of Public Transit.”  They illustrate why AC Transit should be an integral part of your life by sharing a creative range of content—from user-generated videos, to a savings calculator, to a discussion of community and environment benefits, and the exciting future of transit. Click here to read more about ACTforMe.org

As our nation’s capital and much of the East Coast prepares to be blasted by yet another storm, WMATA passengers will be able to minimize the time they spend freezing outdoors thanks for the NextBus real-time passenger information system.

Before the DC area’s WMATA agency implemented the NextBus solution, passengers were forced to rely on static schedules that did not reflect the kind of havoc a winter storm can bring. Although there are printed schedule might have shown that the bus would arrive at 10 AM, the effect of blizzard conditions would be felt all day long–and certainly disrupt normal arrival times.  Even in normal conditions, buses often arrive somewhat early or late, but severe weather circumstances can create drastic delays that would leave uninformed writers stuck in frosty conditions for an uncomfortable length of time.

Because NextBus predictions are continually adjusted based on actual conditions, riders need suffer interminable waits at bus stops for snow delayed buses. Instead, they can access real-time data on their PC, on their smart phone or even by dialing in on a regular phone to get the most current arrival information.

Passengers can also watch bus progress in real-time on the NextBus Live Map or Google Maps for a further reality check.

Thanks to NextBus, riders DC area riders can stay warm even in the worst of winter storms.

Bus Information Anywhere Proves Life Changing for DC Area Bus Commuter

In the 3 months since its official launch in the Washington DC metro, the NextBus real-time passenger information solution has proved invaluable for 1000s of busy commuters who have to negotiate the complex local transit system.

Blogger, Eyder Peralta, is an NPR associate producer on social media and has grown to love the NextBus service and the related iPhone application. As he writes in a recent post, Practical Technology Can Be Sexy:

Having used it for more than a month, I haven’t waited for a bus more than three minutes.

It has literally changed my life. It means an extra 10 minutes playing with my baby in the morning. It means finishing off my cup of coffee, when in the past I’d drop it off in the sink completely full. It means that I don’t have to curse under my breath when a bus — 30 minutes delayed — finally arrives with three others right behind it. It means I don’t have to agonize about whether I just missed a bus by a minute so I’m stuck.

Eyder is particularly fond of a DC-specific iPhone application, NextBusDC that provides a rich variety of functions:

• The ability to find nearby bus stops instantly
• Bookmarking of favorite stops and routes for convenience
• Interactive route maps, zoom and click on a stop for bus times
• Supports arrival predictions for WMATA buses

Eyder concludes, “Most technology now is about coolness; it’s about ways to entertain your eyes and ears and hardly ever about the simple, practical things in life. But what something like NextBus taught me is that practical tech is the sexiest tech.”

There’s nothing better than technology that makes daily life easier.  At NextBus, that’s our objective: To make life easier for transit execs and riders alike. It sure looks like we’ve achieved our objective for Eyder Peralta.

The System Run in Partnership with the U. of North Carolina Has Leveraged NextBus Technology Since 2006.

Chapel Hill won top honors in the category for cities with populations of under 100,000 for creating the fare-free transit program.

Sponsored by Waste Management, Inc., and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the City Livability Award Program recognizes mayors for exemplary leadership in developing and implementing programs that improve the quality of life in their cities.

Since Chapel Hill Transit became fare free in 2002, it has become the second-largest transit system in North Carolina. Since that time, ridership has risen from 3 million riders a year to over 7 million riders annually projected for 2009.

This program is unique in that while some university transit systems provide fare free service for university students, faculty and staff, very few communities provide free transit service to all riders. The commitment in this community went beyond the University to all citizens in the community in an effort to encourage greater usage of public transportation and reduction of reliance on the single occupancy automobile.

“The Chapel Hill Public Transit system is the foundation of our sustainable future,” said Mayor Foy. “This bus system makes Chapel Hill continue to be the kind of place people love; for us it is an investment and it has paid off big time.”

The University is a full financial partner in the transit system which operates a total of 31 routes with 83 buses and 11 lift equipped vans.

The Chapel Hill community has long encouraged the use of transit over automobile use in central areas of Chapel Hill, including the University. 

Since 2006, the system has employed NextBus technology to simplify operations and improve service for all riders throughout the community.

In Major Metropolitan Areas, Detailed and Current Maps with All Routes Can Improve on What’s Available in Print and PDF Format

When using large, complex public transportation systems, passengers often find it challenging to understand unfamiliar routes and bus stops.  But, as they increase their reliance on public transportation they need to obtain accurate location information so that they can be in the right place at the right time in order to keep to their schedules.

The well-known DC transportation blogger, Dr. Gridlock, suggested to a frustrated rider, who found print or PDF versions unhelpful, that he consider using NextBus Google maps as his primary guide to figuring out where he was and where he wanted to go: “But you might get some satisfaction out of Metro’s NextBus page online. I’ve been using it to help track down the location of stops, in addition to its primary purpose of telling people when the next bus is going to arrive there.”

As an example, this map of the route in Chevy Chase, Maryland, enables you to drill down for find the exact location of the bus stop nearest you.  It incorporates Google’s hybrid mapping capability so that you can identify landmarks to better orient yourself.  Of course, it also shows you the precise location of the next bus as well.

 

The map is easy to navigate and to manipulate so that riders can position themselves precisely.  That’s a lot simpler than trying to work with a paper map or taking the time to view or print out a static PDF file.  And, that makes for a lot more happy public transit passengers.

Click here to link to the page that will generate your example map.

 

 

WMATA launched production version of NextBus July 1 in the Washington metropolitan region

NextBus is now making it even simpler for area residents to use public transport.  The system serves a local population of more than 3.5 million with a massive system incorporating 1500 buses and 366 routes.

WMATA had already provided a useful tool called Trip Planner that helped commuters figure out the best way to get to their destination via a variety of public transit options ranging from the Metro to surface buses.

Now regular riders are finding it even easier to plan their travel because of accurate predictions on the arrival time of their bus anywhere in the Washington, DC area at any one of 12,000 stops.

As the Washington Post noted in a July 12 article, “This new GPS-based service provides some real-time information for Metrobus riders that Trip Planner can’t…This is a real breakthrough, because it takes a lot of the uncertainty out of bus travel.”

Perhaps, even more encouraging was first person article in the online community journal, Examiner by Jeffrey Amato, a local Web content developer who is a regular public transportation user.  He admits that he began as a skeptic but wound up being a true believer in the NextBus passenger information system:

To all those naysayers out there, let me just say, I was hesitant at first to accept that this system works, but it DOES! The system routinely provides accurate timing for when the bus will arrive at your stop within a 1 to 2 minute margin of error. Pretty darn good for such an expansive transportation system, if I do say myself.

I embrace this new application though. It lets me know exactly when I need to appear, and has cut down on wasted moments of my life, spent in the various weather conditions in the DC area. Thank you metro!

And, in the brave new world of social media and Twitter, NextBus seems to be making the grade.  As one DC native tweeted happily in 140 characters of praise:

RegBazile: #Nextbus also aced the arrival of my Wisc ave connection. Face it, the system works! #wmata 

Get a good look at the new WMATA NextBus technology working in real-time. Click now on the WMATA.NextBus.com site.

Fort Myers Beach Trolley Leverages NextBus to Make for an Easy Riding Experience

LeeTran of Fort Myers operates an extensive system of regular buses throughout the city and in surrounding Lee County–an area covering hundreds of square miles. Most of their buses operate along traditional routes with frequent schedules that empower commuters and shoppers who choose public transit over autos.

For beautiful Fort Myers Beach, they do something much different. They operate a classic trolley that covers the length of the barrier island from Fort Myers on the north to Bonita Springs.

In peak season, the trolley is the most sensible way to travel because the single N-S road is jammed with vacationers and snowbirds.

The only hitch is that the beach trolley runs with a typical headway of 40 minutes or more.  That means it is essential to know when the next bus will be arriving in the direction you want to go.  The team at LeeTran selected NextBus real-time information solutions to provide up to the minute alerts for riders.

In fact, we received a thoughtful email from a regular vacationer who remarked on what a positive difference NextBus had made:

I vacation in Ft. Myers every summer and just love the trolley service.  Last year it was pretty helpful.  This year was so much better because of NextBus.  I could see when the trolley was getting very close so I could leave a store and get to the stop in time. This helps me so much.

Your passengers count on public transit to get them where they want to go.  Real-time passenger information from NextBus always makes life easier for customers and transit executives even with frequent bus arrivals. But, when riders must adjust to the Fort Myers Beach trolley’s forty minute headway, LeeTran’s investment in NextBus technology really made a positive difference for its customers.

AC Transit Makes Excellent Use of the Web to Turn Taking the Bus or the Train the Obvious Transportation Choice

AC Transit has created ACT for Me as “Your Guide to the Future of Public Transit.”  They illustrate why AC Transit should be an integral part of your life by sharing a creative range of content—from user-generated videos, to a savings calculator, to a discussion of community and environment benefits, and the exciting future of transit.

Lots of images of happy riders with capsule explanations of their love of AC Transit make an authentic case for their service.  For example, they quote Reginald James, a rider since 1986, “By taking AC Transit I don’t have to worry about rising gas prices and vehicle maintenance costs. Plus, I enjoy riding the bus. I like talking to the different bus drivers and I really appreciate the free wireless internet on the transbay buses.”  Mr. James and his many fellow, real-live riders suggest that becoming an AC Transit regular would be not only the right thing but perhaps even the enjoyable thing to do.

You may well be facing challenges in marketing your systems as the smart alternative to clogged roadways and greenhouse gases. Take a look at what AC Transit is doing on the web to promote public transit 24 hours a day, seven days a week: ACTforMe.org

Margot R., a UC Berkeley undergrad, relies on NextBus arrival predictions to plan her travel and ensure her security.

A typical public transit day for Margot may start early in the morning and end with a trip home from the library in the wee hours. She lives far enough from campus that taking the AC Transit bus is an appealing alternative to walking–because she can count on reliable NextBus predictions.

Margot knows that uncertain traffic conditions often make for uncertain bus arrival times.  But, as she goes through her morning routine, she checks the real-time NextBus predictions as they are regularly updated on her laptop.  That way, she can get to the bus stop a few minutes before the bus arrives and get to her early-morning classes on time.

She notes that the bus arrival predictions are highly accurate, usually within one or two minutes of actual arrival time.  That NextBus accuracy has turned her into a regular AC Transit rider.

Because she often studies late at the library, personal safety is also an important issue for Margot.  Again, because she knows that she won’t have to wait for an unpredictable amount of time in the dark at one or two in the morning, she can confidently plan her travel back from the library to her apartment on the bus.

The combination of AC Transit and NextBus gets Margot where she needs to go everyday both safely and on time.

NextBus Helps Add 21st Century Technology to make it even better.

There are a lot of fans of San Francisco Bay area’s transit systems.  And for very good reason.

The city’s Muni system with its buses and light rail, when combined with BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit), its iconic cable cars, and the ferries on the Bay let visitors and residents get wherever they need to go without setting foot in a car.

As one raving baby boomer fan of public transit, known simply as ‘The Blond’, writes in her blog:

The transportation here isn’t just practical, it’s also rich with history, efficient, and downright pretty. Yes…I said pretty. Look at the view from the T line…

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