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Ottawa Bus Follower?
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Popularity Score: 4
This app was mentioned in 4 comments, with an average of 4.25 upvotes
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It could be that those are trips for which there's no GPS data, and the app is showing the scheduled time. The app I use, Bus Follower, makes a pretty clear distinction between estimated and scheduled time. Sometimes no GPS data means the bus's GPS isn't working, and it could be running right on time, but probably more often it means it's not coming.
> Using the texting service, I'm able to see the bus is on it's way... 5 minutes away.. 3 minutes away... 1 minute away... Out Of Service bus drives by... 35 minutes away? It must have flicked on it's out of service option or something at a popular stop.
I have a similar issue, except that I use the Ottawa Bus Follower app so I can actually see how far they are away.
What happens is that it will show the bus' location (86 Baseline) at the start of the route, and say "Route starts in 5 minutes". Then, when it's about a minute or two away from starting, it disappears from the map.
About 5 minutes after it was supposed to show up, it pops back up on the map saying "Arriving in one minute". It's like the driver took the "Please allow a five minute window of error to make sure you catch your bus" recommendation for OC Transpo passengers, but only picked up on "Please allow a five minute window of error".
I use Bus Follower.
Never had a problem with it, aside from when buses randomly decide not to show up, of course. But in those cases it's the bus at fault, not the app (listed on the schedule and supposed to start their route but just don't because why not).
It's simple and it gets the job done, used it for a couple years now. Finds your location, saves stops, and there's no ads and no bullshit that get in the way. Clean and easy.
General Purpose: I use Bus Follower on Android
Special Purpose: I built (and use!) OC Trainsfer for people who have multiple routes they can take from different stops at Tunney's, Hurdman, or Blair to help decide which stop to go to. I tried to submit to their app gallery but like many things about OC Transpo their submission page is broken (requires a captcha that isn't there).
Train updates: https://twitter.com/OccTranspo
Unfortunately any app relying on OC Transpo's API is limited by the fact that:
- There is no live train data available
- Trips don't have live data available until they start, and with nearly every trip for evening rush starting at one of the three main stations, you just get scheduled times.
- GPS data can be unreliable due to system wide issues or individual bus issues.