I Don’t Have To Wait For Buses in the Cold or Rain Anymore
London is introducing a system called Countdown. It allows you to look at your local bus stop and see how long you’ll have to wait for the next bus. Tonight, a friend came for supper and I was able to turn up at the stop just as her bus arrived. We also timed it right, so that we walked to the stop to get there, just as her bus arrived for London Bridge.
The system has a few bugs in that for instance 21 buses aren’t shown for some reason, but it works very well. You can also get it on a smart phone, if you have one. I think it’s only problem is that it might encourage people to travel by bus too much and London will need to buy more buses.
As an example, my friend had come in to Euston on a train from Manchester. She’d then waited for a 30 bus, so that she didn’t get too wet. But with wi-fi on the trains or a good mobile signal, she could have checked where the bus was as she approached Euston.
I often take one bus and then swap to another route, when they are running together, as the 141 and 341 do going to IKEA. You could use your mobile device to find out how long you have to wait.
It all goes to show how technology can improve something supposedly low-tech like a humble bus.
This system will see a lot of development in the next few years.
Imagine someone is coming to meet you on a bus. THey would text you the bus serial number and you would then display its position on your computer, so you could meet the actual bus at the right time and place. Or you could get an automatic text message a minute before the bus arrives.
The possibilities are endless.
The Anonymous Widower 
I am 10 minute drive from the airport, we do this when we are meeting people off flights, we dont set out until we are told the passengers from the relevant flight are collecting their baggage.
Comment by liz | September 7, 2011 |
You got my email about this? It’s excellent but as you say has some bugs – it’s still showing the old bus stops in Stamford Road…
Comment by Marc | September 8, 2011 |
I did and that meant I looked at the system.
As to the faults in the maps, I would expect they got the system going with a 95% map, so that you could at least show people. Any deliberate mistaskes will be pointed out in the feedback.
It’s an irritance, but not anything that’s dangerous.
Comment by AnonW | September 8, 2011 |
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