I’m the one who need to use Metro train and bus (DC) almost every day. Many times I need to unfamiliar places. I found that my iPhone and Metro online services are very helpful in many situations. I’m not scared to get lost because I can access internet and go to the Metro website to check bus routes and schedule. One online service that really impresses me is “Metro Next Bus” which is a page on Metro official site. On the service page, you can type bus stop numbers which can be found on the bus stop sign to see when the next bus is coming. The system gets GPS data from the bus and tells you (almost) exactly waiting time for the bus. For example, I key the number of the bus stop close to my house, “5000863”, the system will tell you what bus is coming and go from where to where such as “3A from Annandale to West Falls Church”, as well as how long you have to wait for the bus like “5 minutes” “28 minutes”. The estimate time is 98% correct. I’ve been using metro bus service for 8 months and had only one time that I missed the bus because the bus arrive before the estimate waiting time. Sometime buses came a little bit later than the estimate time. But it was not a big deal.
I love this because I can manage my time. I don’t need to leave home earlier than I need to wait for the bus. I need to be at the bus stop about 5-3 minutes before the arrival time. Or if you are somewhere else and need to catch a bus, you can know if you have time to grasp something to eat or do something else before coming back to the bus stop to catch the bus. The service just makes my metro life much easier.
Here is the link http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/nextbus/arrivals.cfm
Actually, I don’t know how to access the page from the main website because, mostly, I go to google and search for “metro next bus” to get the page.
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