Via Garibaldi 8 Posted April 19, 2015 Share #1 Posted April 19, 2015 It's been a while since we talked about bus apps. A while ago I downloaded BusChecker for the hell of it and a guy who rides the BxM1 and BxM18 with me has been raving about it, so I decided to test it again Friday night and yesterday. Was very pleased at how accurate it is. I'm curious at how it is able to get live countdown times and be so accurate? Supposedly it's licensed by the ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q113 LTD Posted April 19, 2015 Share #2 Posted April 19, 2015 It's been a while since we talked about bus apps. A while ago I downloaded BusChecker for the hell of it and a guy who rides the BxM1 and BxM18 with me has been raving about it, so I decided to test it again Friday night and yesterday. Was very pleased at how accurate it is. I'm curious at how it is able to get live countdown times and be so accurate? Supposedly it's licensed by the ? I have been using this app for a year and it is very accurate and never let me down except during bad snow storms. One time, I was using the app and it showed me that there was three Q22's coming in 2 minutes apart and all of them arrived at the same time. Another time, I was in Mott Av waiting for the Q113 LTD to Seagirt Blvd and the app showed me that two of them was coming in 3 minutes and they all came. Also when I take the home to Mott Av, I look at the app to find out which bus comes first because there are two bus stops near the train station, Q22, which is a block away and Q113 LTD & Q114 LTD two blocks away. I take either the Q22, Q113 LTD or Q114 LTD, which they all meet up at Seagirt Blvd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted April 19, 2015 Yeah it seemed to go out briefly when I was using it on my wireless but came back on which I switched my phone to 4G. Pretty accurate so far today... Used it for the BxM2 and the BxM4 this morning/afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BronxBombers Posted April 19, 2015 Share #4 Posted April 19, 2015 It is very accurate, plus you can use the widget to put on your home screen for easy access. All you have to do is tap the widget, it refreshes and tells you when the next bus is arriving. I use it for all the bus stops that I use the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QM1to6Ave Posted April 19, 2015 Share #5 Posted April 19, 2015 I've actually had issues with this app. My guess is that it works by taking the last few bits of GPS location data from BusTime, calculating an average speed, and then applying that speed to your stop to calculate an arrival time. I've seen wildly fluctuating times for the same bus, and more ghost buses than on BusTime. Now that I've been using BusTime for my home lines for about a year, I've learned to be fairly accurate at estimating how long a bus will take to arrive based on traffic, type of bus, and time of day from the distance given by BusTime. I find BusTime to be the most accurate so I stick with the it. Ant the mobile site works pretty well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted April 19, 2015 I've actually had issues with this app. My guess is that it works by taking the last few bits of GPS location data from BusTime, calculating an average speed, and then applying that speed to your stop to calculate an arrival time. I've seen wildly fluctuating times for the same bus, and more ghost buses than on BusTime. Now that I've been using BusTime for my home lines for about a year, I've learned to be fairly accurate at estimating how long a bus will take to arrive based on traffic, type of bus, and time of day from the distance given by BusTime. I find BusTime to be the most accurate so I stick with the it. Ant the mobile site works pretty well It seems to be intertwined with info somehow because for my BxM4 ride, there was no bus on BusTime and no bus on BusChecker either. I thought there was a ghost bus but the guy was running late, so once he appeared on BusTime, he appeared on BusChecker as well. I think during rush hour, things would be interesting on BusChecker. I plan on using it only to get an idea of how long I have to wait, but I wouldn't bank on it as a lone source. Sometimes I've found that the GPS device is delayed a bit, so I try to give myself extra time just in case, but ideally what I like to use this for is to lessen my wait times. It can be so crowded in the city and people can be so obnoxious that the sooner I can get on my bus and head home the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupojohn Posted May 15, 2015 Share #7 Posted May 15, 2015 If it's able to be used on Android, i'll try it on my daily BxM1 ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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