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WebWatch might be better


Busjack

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Pace is certainly doing its part to make WebWatch not useful, for instance:

post-14-12913311673863_thumb.jpg

The "Vehicle No.________" is a new twist, besides the usual one that there should be 4 buses on the route, but only two show.*

Maybe brass will get the message when they find out that the 606 "next bus" sign in front of headquarters is inaccurate, too.*

________________________________

* Map zoomed out for your convenience, i.e. mine, to show all balloons in one screenshot.

** I presume.

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  • 1 month later...

Again, the title of this thread may be a lie.

I have the impression that Web Watch is stuck. Besides not showing buses on school runs or the like, I noted that 6670 was stuck on 422 at Old Orchard for a while. While there have been instances of phantom buses (not Gilligs) before, I further saw that while I had physically seen 6649 on 422 on the run that should be at Northbrook Court at 5:30, and for a couple of subsequent days it was there at about 2:30 and 5:30 on WebWatch, it is also there at all other times.

Given the snow storm yesterday, if the supervisor's view is anything like this, one wonders if Pace was maintaining service control.

BTW, I do have Firefox clear out the cache on closing, and do use the refresh button, so I guess it is on Pace's end.

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Webwatch has been frozen for about 3 days. Bus 6149 is still trying to approach Oakton/Cumberland EB on the 226. Considering that the route doesn't operate weekends, this would be amusing if the bus were actually out there. But we know it's not. :lol:

It has been frozen for a heck of a longer time than that. It was at least a week when I posted.

Given the 422 example above, the reading is still the same, even though that, also, hasn't run on Saturday since Feb. 2010.

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At least, after about two weeks, it has improved to "Service Unavailable." Does one think they will ever fix it (in the sense of making it right)?

One has to say that, by comparison, Bus Tracker and Train Tracker seem pretty bulletproof.

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Just checked it, and it's back to normal.

Yep.

Also, it looks like 2630 stayed in North Shore, and didn't go to Naperville like 2635.

post-14-12952843165478_thumb.jpg

Of course, it just went back to status quo ante three weeks, in that blank routes are still blank, etc.

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Looks like Webwatch is down again. It won't let me pull any information on routes at all.

It seems like WebWatch goes through a cycle each Monday, between the blue screen with pink writing that it is not available, to the unpopulated pull down that you noted, to being back up now.

That software upgrade must have been really great.:lol: :o

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Probably a better place:

Ghost sighting this morning, Im looking on Pace bustracker, looking up the #606, bus #9592 is showing up on bustracker.

I think I mentioned before that supervisor's cars have MDTs, and, with work trucks (such as the one used by the crew that pastes over the route numbers on bus stop signs) are in the 9000 series. So it is more than likely that someone didn't sign in properly (as opposed to there being some unknown series, such as a Marmon on the Tollway ;) ).

Heck, when I was at the Highland Park hearings, I'm surprised that 4 gray Pace cars (that were in the city hall parking lot) didn't show up on WebWatch.

Anyway, not there now.

I also commented on today's CTA Tattler that at least Bus Tracker and Train Tracker don't seem to be the jokes that WebWatch is. A very backhanded complement, but one nonetheless.

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I love it how you look at Pace's press release about the upcoming snow storm and how they say to take advantage of Webwatch, yet I look at it tonight and it's completely down. Wow. Good advertising Pace.

Well, again it is back up, but it seems like when I get up early to track the rush hour, that's when it is unavailable.

Since it seems like you jumped the gun by about 18 hours, the question will be if it is down tomorrow morning. As I mentioned earlier, that's relevant only if people are at the stops.

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... Plus WGN was able to confirm that Pace routes 309, 318, 352 and 381 are among those actually able to run. WGN said their website will have what's able to operate because there's so so much that can't as far as Pace goes.

For what WebWatch is worth, it appears that most of the heavy routes in the South Division have 1 or 2 buses. 309 is the only heavy route in the West Division showing anything (2 buses). The only thing showing up in NW are 2 on 250 and 1 on 290. There is one bus on 213, which is it for North Shore. Update: 213 is up to 3, all Orion Is. I wonder if one can make an inference from that.

Southwest seems to be the only Cook County division that has close to the usual number of buses on 379, 383, 386. 381, of course, doesn't show.

To get to the point rotjohns made yesterday, even if the Google Maps part works, the arrival times part is still spitting out the schedule, so if anyone is using this on a cell phone or the like, it is worthless. 99% of them should be saying no service.

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Wouldn't it make sense for Pace to just run their Sunday service as best as they could just like Metra did today? Why even bother running any other way, especially since most everything is closed?

Doesn't look like they even got up to Sunday level, except where WebWatch indicated service on routes that run Saturday but not Sunday, such as 213. For instance, 208 is showing nothing, 270 is finally up to 2 buses, but Sunday would indicate at least 3.

Update: The Pace home page indicates what routes are supposedly running. While it indicates that River (Elgin) is operating, WebWatch doesn't show anything. There is the usual, ineffective "Please allow extra time and check our WebWatch real-time arrival prediction system."

The real question is whether road conditions made it impossible to get buses out, or, whether the drivers couldn't get to work. Again, if there is someone here on the inside at Pace, maybe he or she could illuminate.

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Maybe North Shore's NABIs or Eldos went down in the storm, considering the Orion Is were the only North Shore buses operating today. Hopefully this increases the lifespan and number of Orion Is at North Shore.

Since you took me up on that, conversely it may be that if they break down in the storm, or get hit by some other vehicle, Pace doesn't care.

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  • 1 month later...

Has anybody noticed some of the changes with Webwatch? For starters, the left side of the screen now says "Virtual Earth". Why, I don't know, but it does. The map looks different also. Finally, you no longer have to click on the bus to see what bus it is. If you point the mouse to it, it automatically comes up. I guess it's getting better?

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Has anybody noticed some of the changes with Webwatch? For starters, the left side of the screen now says "Virtual Earth". Why, I don't know, but it does. The map looks different also. Finally, you no longer have to click on the bus to see what bus it is. If you point the mouse to it, it automatically comes up. I guess it's getting better?

Since you mentioned it, I checked it out.

If you click Virtual Earth, you get a Microsoft map (with a Bing logo), as an alternative to the Google map. That link was there before, but didn't work; now it does.

The Microsoft map seems to allow mouseovers, while one still has to click on the Google map icons. The Google map does not seem changed.

Of course, the data is no better on the Microsoft map (still the nonexistent maps, routes not on the pulldown, and ghost buses).

BTW, 6649 is back (prior reference to it being on a flatbed).

post-14-13008873300385_thumb.jpg

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  • 5 weeks later...

It looks like Pace is finally taking the time to update Webwatch to its potential. All of the routes we couldn't see before is now fixed on Virtual Earth (didn't check the google one). This includes 326 (which are El Dorados), 348, 381, & 565. I think those were the 4 unless there's another one that I might have missed.

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It also looks as though the routes affected by the South-Southwest restructuring have been fixed (i.e. 352 to 355, 384, 386), as well as 356* and 372 being added. The messed up Joliet ones are also fixed.

However, the pulldown doesn't have 668 and 669 (Hinsdale and Western Springs).

There is no difference between the Google Map and Virtual Earth with regard to the data.

Thanks for the heads up.

_________

*One can now track the 6900 reported there, if it is still on that run.

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A bizarre thing I found when trolling the Shuttle Bug routes is that there is a pulldown for Route 619, which appears to be Allstate to DesPlaines Metra. Omen of things to come, or just fantasy? It does indicate scheduled departures.

Also, route 630 isn't on the pulldown.

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A bizarre thing I found when trolling the Shuttle Bug routes is that there is a pulldown for Route 619, which appears to be Allstate to DesPlaines Metra. Omen of things to come, or just fantasy? It does indicate scheduled departures.

Also, route 630 isn't on the pulldown.

619 Des Plaines Metra - Allstate started 1/3/2011 and timetable and route map are on the Pace website. The only one I have seen so far implies it is operated by North Shore.

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619 Des Plaines Metra - Allstate started 1/3/2011 and timetable and route map are on the Pace website. The only one I have seen so far implies it is operated by North Shore.

I guess I'll have to track it down, physically, then. Since it starts or ends in Des Plaines, North Shore doesn't make much sense, which is par for the course.

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