The bus at the corner of my street comes every 30 minutes. Every hour in the evenings and weekends.
There’s a big difference between the every 15 minutes BUZ services where you just turn up at the bus stop knowing that a bus will be along in an average of 7 minutes, and standing at a bus stop when the bus is due wondering if it’s late or if you’ve just missed it and have another 30 or 60 minutes to wait.
The paper timetables, and the ones on my phone, are useful for checking when the bus is due but no help in knowing where the bus really is.
The Translink app has timetables and routes, and a sometimes-useful journey planner – but it’s no help with this.
Buses are tracked and the information is used for those screens at the major bus stops. But did you know, you can also access that information on your phone using an independent app called NextThere.
I tried it out and it works – phone screenshot on right. There can be a slight delay maybe 1 or 2 minutes. There’s also a map view which is a bit like watching someone approach using WhatsApp.
You can see buses coming to your stop, or type in a route to check a bus elsewhere. Even more options are available with a paid subscription.
The real-time service is available for all Australian mainland capital cities and quite a few regional areas. Trains included in some cities.
See more at nextthere.com/coverage/