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The Wait is Over: Metro to Relaunch Next Bus System

  • May 27th 2009

by Mark Wellborn

The Wait is Over: Metro to Relaunch Next Bus System: Figure 1

The days of anxiously looking up the block to see if the bus is on its way may soon be a thing of the past. On July 1, the WMATA will relaunch the Next Bus system, real-time bus arrival information that can be retrieved from Metro’s web site, by telephone or from electronic signs installed at select stops.

Red, white and blue Next Bus signs have started to spring up at various stops in DC. MD and VA. The signs include the bus stop number and the phone number to call to get real-time bus arrival information.

The system uses global positioning software and computer modeling to track buses on their routes every two minutes. The system estimates arrival time for buses using the actual position of the vehicles, the intended stops, and traffic patterns. It is expected that this information will be accurate to within a few minutes of a bus’ arrival.

Does this mean the days of waiting up to thirty minutes for a bus are over? What do you think?

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_wait_is_over_metro_to_relaunch_next_bus_system/958.

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