Bustracker's buses

[jajuan]

In the Optima thread it was reported Bustracker shows #43 operated with all Optimas. Well interestingly enough, it shows 55N operated with 40 footers: 6559, 6560, and 6694.

Also, X49 was pretty bunched up when I checked. The closest SB bus near Evergreen Plaza was at 79th terminal and the closest NB that left from there was at approximately 59th. North of that SB bus other SB buses were a SB at Garfield/55th, one approaching the Western Orange line station, 3 bunched up between Cermak and Blue Island, one near the Forest Park Blue, one near Division, one near Lawrence and 2 sitting in the Berwyn terminal. This doesn't count other NB buses or any of the local 49's. The NB buses were also bunched in spots with some big gaps in between.

[trainman8119]

In the Optima thread it was reported Bustracker shows #43 operated with all Optimas. Well interestingly enough, it shows 55N operated with 40 footers: 6559, 6560, and 6694.

Also, X49 was pretty bunched up when I checked. The closest SB bus near Evergreen Plaza was at 79th terminal and the closest NB that left from there was at approximately 59th. North of that SB bus other SB buses were a SB at Garfield/55th, one approaching the Western Orange line station, 3 bunched up between Cermak and Blue Island, one near the Forest Park Blue, one near Division, one near Lawrence and 2 sitting in the Berwyn terminal. This doesn't count other NB buses or any of the local 49's. The NB buses were also bunched in spots with some big gaps in between.

So much for getting bus bunching under control (it ain't gonna happen).

[BusHunter]

In the Optima thread it was reported Bustracker shows #43 operated with all Optimas. Well interestingly enough, it shows 55N operated with 40 footers: 6559, 6560, and 6694.

Also, X49 was pretty bunched up when I checked. The closest SB bus near Evergreen Plaza was at 79th terminal and the closest NB that left from there was at approximately 59th. North of that SB bus other SB buses were a SB at Garfield/55th, one approaching the Western Orange line station, 3 bunched up between Cermak and Blue Island, one near the Forest Park Blue, one near Division, one near Lawrence and 2 sitting in the Berwyn terminal. This doesn't count other NB buses or any of the local 49's. The NB buses were also bunched in spots with some big gaps in between.

Yeah I was expecting to see optima's on 63W and they were all 40 footers. As far as #49 and #X49 we are all seeing the bus bunching problems on Western for the first time. When I was on Bustracker there were no buses from Harrison where there were about 5, to North avenue where there were five more. Of course there could've been ghost buses on the route. There is a disclaimer on the Bustracker website that says not all buses are shown, so there not liable for complaints and accuracies to a point. I once checked the accuracy of the #20 it was mostly right on , but had a few buses missing that were physically on the route. Bustracker devices can fail too just like destination signs.

[nextstopchicago]

With the amount of buses on Western at any given time, I still question the worth of the toys. Get out to the corner and get on a bus.

Thanks for the free advice.

All bus tracker did for me today was, as the CTA's slogan says, let me "stroll, not sprint." I was working on my laptop anyway, so I had the window open, and when I was ready to leave, I checked it. Saw where the buses were, that a 49 would be there around when I'd get to the corner if I hurried, but an X49 would be there in 4-5 minutes. Perfect. Time used - the time it took to look at the screen and click 'close'. Maybe 4 seconds.

I turned off the computer, walked out, saw the 49 go by as I walked up to Western, but ignored it and waited for the X49. At the point I was ready to get off, we had basically caught up with the 49 (we were 100 yards behind, and would have pulled through the same light, except that I made the bus stop.)

I'm having lunch in the window of another coffeeshop, which is on Western, and actually noticed a bus go by that was NOT on the tracker, interestingly. It may not have been a 49, since I only thought to open the tracker after seeing it.

I have to walk about half a mile, and then back to the 49 to go home. My feeling is that with a half mile walk puts me outside the useful area for the tracker, so I won't be bothering to check it for that trip.

But again, to me the real value is that there are times when the bus is WAY off its schedule, when waiting for it would cause me delays beyond what I'm willing to wait for. I was able to verify that wouldn't be a problem. And I didn't spend the 5 minutes nervous about how long I'd have to wait.

Very nice!

[BUSANGEL#1]

If the 49A belongs to 77th then why are there bustracker signs posted from 95th-135th and Western. 49A is not a bustracker route.

[BusHunter]

If the 49A belongs to 77th then why are there bustracker signs posted from 95th-135th and Western. 49A is not a bustracker route.

Sounds like the sign that's at #44's Northbound terminal at the orange line. BTW, yesterday #531 was on #43 and right now #527 is on the #43. Those are from FG so Archer not only picked up #6722 - #6729 they picked up #525 - #531 too. That should solve their shortage problems.

[trainman8119]

All bus tracker did for me today was, as the CTA's slogan says, let me "stroll, not sprint." I was working on my laptop anyway, so I had the window open, and when I was ready to leave, I checked it. Saw where the buses were, that a 49 would be there around when I'd get to the corner if I hurried, but an X49 would be there in 4-5 minutes. Perfect. Time used - the time it took to look at the screen and click 'close'. Maybe 4 seconds.

But again, to me the real value is that there are times when the bus is WAY off its schedule, when waiting for it would cause me delays beyond what I'm willing to wait for. I was able to verify that wouldn't be a problem. And I didn't spend the 5 minutes nervous about how long I'd have to wait.

Very nice!

Perhaps it is. But what I feel is being missed here is that you worried about how far away a bus is instead of figuring how much time you will need to get to your destination. If you are spending 5 minutes being nervous, then you are not allowing yourself time to get to where you want to go, and how far away that bus is isn't going to mean a hill of beans.

The ironic thing about your example is that the express was really not any faster than the local. If you are saying you have an extra 5 minutes and you can catch the next bus fine, but if you are at the corner in either case you get to where you are going at the same time. But in your example it doesn't mean anything, cause if you closed the computer and went to the stop without looking you are still going to catch the same bus and get to the corner at the same time. It's all a PR gimmick and you are buying right into it. This type of equipment should be used only by supervisory personnel, if anyone, to track and adjust, if necessary. However, I'd rather see the CTA spend the money on more buses and more drivers than this type of stuff.

All in all, this is really a silly argument, because I will never convince you and you will never convince me.

[nextstopchicago]

you worried about how far away a bus is instead of figuring how much time you will need to get to your destination. If you are spending 5 minutes.

Fortunately for me, I didn't. As I mentioned, the time spent was the time to click open (then do other things), look at the screen, and click close. Perhaps 8 seconds in total, but only 4 that delayed my arrival to the corner, since I opened the screen 10 or 15 minutes early.

The ironic thing about your example ... you are still going to catch the same bus and get to the corner at the same time. It's all a PR gimmick and you are buying right into it.

...

All in all, this is really a silly argument, because I will never convince you and you will never convince me.

No, it's a silly argument, because I've already proven it helped ME, and you say it didn't. That's ridiculous. It did.

If it doesn't help you, that's fine. I encourage you to continue not spending the 4 seconds (not 5 minutes) that it takes. I encourage you to wait for half an hour when there are bad delays, rather than taking a cab, even if you have an important appointment. I encourage you to add significant padding to the amount of time a trip will take you, so that you don't blow deadlines that you can't blow.

I won't need to do those things anymore. It's a silly argument because you don't value your time, and as a result, saving time doesn't mean much to you. Which is fine with me. But as a result of your not valuing your own time, you keep trying to argue that saving time doesn't mean much to anyone. That's a silly argument for you to make. It's clear from the number of people interested in this that there are lots of people who value their time.

And it's a completely silly argument to say "it's not useful. It's just a PR gimmick." Because what would be the point of a PR gimmick that no one wants. It's only good PR because lots of people want this.

If you'd just post "I will never use this service. For me, it doesn't add anything", I'd never respond. But the argument you're actually making - about me and whether it helped me - is utter nonsense. You've written as if you've never read a thing I've said. You talk about my spending 5 minutes on this, when I had written how much time it took. Most important, you never address the issue of extremely late buses, which I've said repeatedly is at the heart of why this is useful. Maybe you've never waited for a bus longer than a couple minutes, but I think it's hard for most of us to believe that. So the only conclusion we can reach is that you don't value your time. That those times when the bus is 25-30 minutes late don't matter to you, because you can afford to stand there.

I say again, if you don't value your time, don't use the service. But stop telling people who value their time that it's useless to them. That's not an issue of opinion for you. It's a factual thing and you're incorrect. It does help me. Please stand corrected on this issue of fact and stop acting like you've never been corrected.

[trainman8119]

If you think this helps you, then fine. Me, I don't see the use, and see no reason to use this.

Also, for an area such as Pace, where most buses do run 20-30 minutes apart a bus being 20-25 minutes late means something. For something like CTA where buses run 10 minutes or less apart, especially on routes where this is being used now, that would mean after the bus in question, the chances of me standing at a corner for longer than that 10 minutes or less is pretty remote. Think about it, if a bus is 25 minutes late, as you say, that would mean 2 buses went by in the time that late bus arrived. So, really in most cases you are a little off mark. If I don't have the time to wait for buses or trains, I don't and I drive. No muss, no fuss. If I see a bus go by, I go, "damn, I have to wait 10 minutes"....the time is allowed for travel. Somewhat like getting to the airport an hour before the flight leaves. If your time frame is that constricted, I really feel sorry for you...life is too short to live like that.

Enjoy your toy, but for me (to satisfy you)....I will not use this it doesn't add anything!!!!!!!!!

[jesi2282]

Yesterday I was waiting for the #49 or #X49 at Belmont and Western, so I looked at Bus Tracker and it said the next bus will be in 10 mins. Then out of nowhere 1485 comes with a paper sign that says #49 Western comes and picks up people, the run number was P3??, It was funny riding and seeing a New Flyer on Western again. What was it doing there?

[jajuan]

Yesterday I was waiting for the #49 or #X49 at Belmont and Western, so I looked at Bus Tracker and it said the next bus will be in 10 mins. Then out of nowhere 1485 comes with a paper sign that says #49 Western comes and picks up people, the run number was P3??, It was funny riding and seeing a New Flyer on Western again. What was it doing there?

Quite possibly a fill-in run which would explain why that trip didn't show up on Bustracker.

[nextstopchicago]

the chances of me standing at a corner for longer than that 10 minutes or less is pretty remote. Think about it, if a bus is 25 minutes late, as you say, that would mean 2 buses went by in the time that late bus arrived.

but for me (to satisfy you)....I will not use this it doesn't add anything!!!!!!!!!

These two quotes taken together add up to "I don't ride CTA buses, but I'm willing to comment based on my ignorance." If you've never waited longer than 10 minutes, you aren't a regular rider, so maybe you should leave this to those of us who ride these buses.

[trainman8119]

These two quotes taken together add up to "I don't ride CTA buses, but I'm willing to comment based on my ignorance." If you've never waited longer than 10 minutes, you aren't a regular rider, so maybe you should leave this to those of us who ride these buses.

Ride them all the time and have done so for many years. Never said I never waited longer than 10 minutes. Not only that, I tell people how to ride them every day....where to get em, how to catch em and how to find them. You forget, I am out in the field doing it, not looking at a computer.

[jajuan]

Ok. I think we can all agree there those who see a benefit to Bustracker, no matter how small, and there are those who don't. Constant back and forth over the same issue isn't going to change either of your opinions, so why continue the argument? That only makes the argument pointless. Now does anyone care to share any insights of bus operations they may have gotten from observing the Bustracker?

[trainman8119]

Ok. I think we can all agree there those who see a benefit to Bustracker, no matter how small, and there are those who don't. Constant back and forth over the same issue isn't going to change either of your opinions, so why continue the argument? That only makes the argument pointless. Now does anyone care to share any insights of bus operations they may have gotten from observing the Bustracker?

That was a point I was trying to make. Anyway...I don't know exactly if this could or should be in this thread, however in terms of operations, there has been a lot of bunching on 63rd street in the past week. Lots of 3 and 4 packs coming up on the east end near Dorchester. They seem to be heading back west in 2's.

[nextstopchicago]

That was a point I was trying to make. Anyway...I don't know exactly if this could or should be in this thread, however in terms of operations, there has been a lot of bunching on 63rd street in the past week. Lots of 3 and 4 packs coming up on the east end near Dorchester. They seem to be heading back west in 2's.

No it wasn't. You've continually been saying it's of use to no one, calling it my 'toy' even though I've told you it's useful to me,

and most of all, telling fairy tales about how it's "the chances of me waiting on a corner for longer than 10 minutes is pretty remote."

I'll say it again, the only way that is true is because you don't take the bus. Either you don't take the bus, or you're lying about your experience. That simply is not true of any route on the CTA. Huberman's graphics show it. The study by the CTA project of the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group showed it. The CTA stats released in a report by Kruesi showed it before Huberman came on. And your very admission of 3 and 4 packs in this post concedes that I'm right.

What you said about wait times was flat out not true. You only said it because you thought it would make it seem like the tracker was worthless because nobody waits that long.

[Busjack]

That was a point I was trying to make. Anyway...I don't know exactly if this could or should be in this thread, however in terms of operations, there has been a lot of bunching on 63rd street in the past week. Lots of 3 and 4 packs coming up on the east end near Dorchester. They seem to be heading back west in 2's.

No it wasn't. You've continually been saying it's of use to no one, calling it my 'toy' even though I've told you it's useful to me,

Here it seems like nextstopchicago is continuing the dispute at its former point, while trainman is bringing up a new one, which is...

If, according to the RedEye, 74th Garage has had internal use of BusTracker for now 4 months, and is posting awards for running on time, why haven't its supervisors developed a strategy to deal with this problem? Or is Miss RedEye wrong?

[trainman8119]

Here it seems like nextstopchicago is continuing the dispute at its former point, while trainman is bringing up a new one, which is...

If, according to the RedEye, 74th Garage has had internal use of BusTracker for now 4 months, and is posting awards for running on time, why haven't its supervisors developed a strategy to deal with this problem? Or is Miss RedEye wrong?

I'll just consider the source and continue to move on. As for 63rd street, it is rare to see that many buses bunched. At most I would perhaps see 2 together at a given time. I doubt Miss Red Eye is wrong, however, it wouldn't be the first time an agency fluffed over something "great" to the press when it is something that might have been going on for a long time or simply a big nothing (see all the hoopla on the new Southport Ravenswood station). In this case, I am more inclined to think there might be something along the route causing some type of major delay, even though I noticed this on more than one occasion in the past week. That all said, if there is such a crunch to eliminate bunching, then someone should have made an executive decision on the street to turn someone around short. If it was obvious to me, then it should have been obvious to someone else.

[Busjack]

Given the addition of 74th's routes, isn't the map part going to become pretty useless in some areas? There are already several icons stacked on top of each other at Midway Orange Line station. Just guess how it will be upon adding 55, X55, 59 and 63 to it.

At least this doesn't affect the Estimated Travel Time display.

[nflyer22]

Given the addition of 74th's routes, isn't the map part going to become pretty useless in some areas? There are already several icons stacked on top of each other at Midway Orange Line station. Just guess how it will be upon adding 55, X55, 59 and 63 to it.

At least this doesn't affect the Estimated Travel Time display.

Yeah, that's really annoying if you're trying to find out what bus route/number is under all of the other bus routes on top! But they do come up eventually...after waiting for it for 20 minutes! For me, I'd like it if CTA would start allowing users to filter out all routes except maybe only one or two routes on the Bus Tracker map, so you can get a good look at the buses on that particular route without any of the other routes stacking on top of the one you're trying to look at!

2 Questions: Seeing how more routes are added in 2 weeks, such as the 21, 50, and 60, which have no lines currently on the Tracker map, they will be added by the time they go live right?

Also, seeing after the Spring Moves, some routes w/o Bus Tracker formally at their original garage have it now (like the 21, 50, and 60), but some routes, such as the 8 Halsted, had it at 74th, but Kedzie has yet to have its routes live on the map (those colored lines), yet 8's line is still on the Tracker map; Do Bus Tracker only go to a certain garage, or a certain route?

[Buslover88]

For me, I'd like it if CTA would start allowing users to filter out all routes except maybe only one or two routes on the Bus Tracker map, so you can get a good look at the buses on that particular route without any of the other routes stacking on top of the one you're trying to look at!

After seeing what you wrote, I emailed CTA and suggested that they filter out all routes except for the one the passenger is looking for.

[nflyer22]

After seeing what you wrote, I emailed CTA and suggested that they filter out all routes except for the one the passenger is looking for.

Wow, I'd never thought someone would actually tell the CTA about that issue, even I'm not brave enough to do something like that, that's very helpful to all bus fans and everyday users of the Tracker. Thanks so much, appreciate it greatly! ;)

[rmadisonwi]

From what I understand, the ability to filter routes, along with a few other changes, are planned for some time in the relatively near future. I don't have an exact timeline on that, though.

[Busjack]

Also, seeing after the Spring Moves, some routes w/o Bus Tracker formally at their original garage have it now (like the 21, 50, and 60), but some routes, such as the 8 Halsted, had it at 74th, but Kedzie has yet to have its routes live on the map (those colored lines), yet 8's line is still on the Tracker map; Do Bus Tracker only go to a certain garage, or a certain route?

As previously disclosed by CTA, you need several elements, including the Clever Devices device (all buses have that), the cell phone link between the CD and the control center (also used for live camera) and the computer software on the server. As the RedEye said, 74th has had at least the first two (and internally the third) for about 5 months now. One would think that Chicago Garage could go live now, because it appears that its buses are randomly assigned to 20 and X20, but maybe the computer work isn't done or the assignment isn't that random.

On the other hand, since Kedzie still has some buses on the immediate chopping block, it probably won't go live until they are replaced, which won't be that long. Also, the reason why it is only 13-18 routes a month should be explained, although one would believe that working out the software kinks is part of that.

A couple of other bits of speculation:

• Working out the computer glitches may including making sure the lines are on the maps.
  
• Maybe it is also garage by garage because the supervisors have to be trained first on how to get the system more regular. Otherwise, I can see some nerd calling in saying "why are there 4 buses bunched eastbound at 63rd and Cottage, and nothing westbound until Damen?"
  

[Buslover88]

Wow, I'd never thought someone would actually tell the CTA about that issue, even I'm not brave enough to do something like that, that's very helpful to all bus fans and everyday users of the Tracker. Thanks so much, appreciate it greatly!

No problem. I was thinking about all the busfans and the riders so I said to myself "hey, why not email CTA about this?".

One would think that Chicago Garage could go live now, because it appears that its buses are randomly assigned to 20 and X20, but maybe the computer work isn't done or the assignment isn't that random.

I think Chicago might go live by June. And on the latter, I tried to dispute that with BusExpert in a topic a while back though it ended up in a flame war.

I can see some nerd calling in saying "why are there 4 buses bunched eastbound at 63rd and Cottage, and nothing westbound until Damen?"

My only problem with this is how can someone be a nerd for just calling that in?