… go “guess where we are cos we are never on time”
Was talking to Antoin on the #joiito channel recently and we talked about a system for tracking buses so ypu’d know where the fig they are. Irish buses are rarely on time and it would be good to know how many stops away the bus is. A very cheap vandal proof solution would be needed too.
My suggestion was a unique number on each bus stop and a number you texted and it would text you back the location of the bus. “Four Stops Away” This technology would work with either a gps system on the bus or some very easy system on the bus where the driver pressed something to give his location.
But as Antoin said and its very true the drivers and their managers might not want their location known as it could possibly highlight how bad the service is.
So then I thought that theres no need for the buses to do it. Power tp the people ! Everyone could participate by texting the number when the bus arrives with a code of ‘now’ or something and with the bus stop id. Then the database is updated and people can txt to see is a bus arriving soon.
Might be a good application of “people power” and using technology to get around bureaucracy.
Will cost a fortune especially with o2 and vodafone upping the price of their texts yet again.
Also in my experience of cork buses, the buses come but then somewhere along the route change their minds, switch number plates to “0 – city centre” and head back to the bus station. It’s especially true when waiting for a bus from college when all you see is number 0s passing you. You could get a text from someone and think “oh cool the bus is coming” but then nothing.
At least you could know when a temporary route is in place though, sometimes there could be roadworks near me, and you could be sitting at the bus stop for ages not knowing whether the bus is late or whether the stop had been bypassed. (Generally the default is “no service”)
What Cork really needs is cycle lanes, so people could cycle from place to place with ease. Dublin has a reasonable number of cycle lanes and it is such a pleasure. I can be in town in 5 mins as opposed to about 10-15 mins for bus wait and a further 20 mins navigating through traffic.
Check out mybus.org! The number 10 bus goes by my house.
http://www.mybus.org/