What a Difference an App Makes

I ride the bus quite a bit, and find it to be a great alternative to driving in LA.  This is true – but it could be so much better! It is more convenient to get around on public transit in other major metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and New York not just because the buses/trains run more frequently, but because it is easier to figure out when and where they run.  Smartphone apps help simplify the logistics of being a transit rider by giving real time info on when buses and trains are coming and going.  My life, and the life of other westside transit riders, could be much easier if Big Blue Bus would do two things:

1)      Release their route and schedule data publicly; and

2)      Develop some real-time data and release that too.

Thankfully, Big Blue Bus appears to be moving in the right direction: representative Dan Dawson tells me that they plan to roll out public route and schedule data within the month, and real-time data within the year. Oh, happy day!  This follows on the heels of Los Angeles Metro’s decision last year to release their route and schedule data, so that now you can plan your LA bus trips on Google maps, or on one of the iPhone apps that has sprung up to utilize the data (more on this app in a later post).  It is still just schedule data, not real time data (i.e., if a bus is running behind schedule your app will not alert you), but still rally helps take the planning and wait-time out of bus riding.

I’ll keep you posted on those developments, but to preview how much better my life (and yours, if you ride the bus or are thinking about doing so) could be with an app, here’s the story of getting around town under two different scenarios:

Scenario 1 - Going to the airport. 

My flight leaves at 9am, so I want to be there by 8am.  Here’s what I have to do currently:

Life Without App

The night before, I spend 15 minutes doing the following:

• Go to www.bigbluebus.com
• Click on bus route #3
• Click on Monday-Friday Schedule
• The schedule only lists about 5 stops for the route, so I have to figure out which stop listed is before the stop I am at. 
• Find it, and see that a bus will come  to that stop at 6:59am that will get to LAX transit Center at 7:43am.
• Estimate that it will take about 5 minutes for the bus to get from that stop to me.
• Write this down in a calendar appointment for myself.

The morning of, I have to do the following:

• Pull up the calendar to remind me.
• Leave the house at 7:02, get to the bus stop at 7:04.
• Loiter at bus stop.
• Loiter some more, checking the clock, wishing I could be doing something other than loitering at a bus stop.
• Bus finally comes at 7:10 and I’m off.

Compare this to life with a Big Blue Bus app:

Life With App

The night before, I relax and hang out with my husband.

The morning of:

• While eating my breakfast, I open up the app.  It automatically finds the nearest stop to me and informs me that the bus is scheduled to arrive at 7:04.
• While brushing my teeth at 7am, I check again to make sure everything is on schedule.  The app tells me the bus is now scheduled to arrive at 7:10am.

• I use the extra time to play with my cat (featured to the right; also in favor of a Big Blue Bus app) then leave the house at 7:08, get to the bus stop simultaneously with the bus at 7:10 and I’m off.

I’m happy.  My husband is happy.  My cat is happy.  The police are happy with the reduced loitering.  Big Blue Bus is happy with the increased ridership from people who don’t have to waste time planning trips on the basis of estimated times and waiting around for buses indefinitely.

Scenario 2 - Spontaneous trip to Diddy Riese

I’m out and about on a Saturday, and decide it’s time for a delicious ice cream sandwich at Diddy Riese.

Life Without App

• I use the browser on my iPhone to go to www.bigbluebus.com
• Wait for it to load.
• Click on “bus #3”
• Wait for it to load.
• Click on “Stop Locations”.
• Wait for it to load.
• Find the closest stop.
• Click on “Saturday  Schedule”
• Wait for it to load.
• Figure out which stop listed is closest to the stop near me and, based on that, estimate when the bus will reach my stop
• Loiter at the bus stop hoping the bus comes close to that time

Life With App

• Open app and click on bus #3. 
• It automatically finds the stop closest to me and tells me that the next #3 bus is coming in 20 minutes.
• However, I can also see that I could take the #2, so I click on that.
• The app automatically finds the stop closest to me and tells me the next #2 bus is coming in 5 minutes.
• Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream on chocolate chip and M&M cookie, here I come!

I’m happy.  Less loitering and more ice cream for everyone (which is always a good thing).