Tag Archives: nextbus

The Daily Feed
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See How Far They’ve Come

Photo courtesy of
‘taking the bus’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Metrobus is reinventing itself, reports The Examiner.  Their new slogan (“See how far we’ve come”) and ad campaign is taking over the District.  This $739,000 campaign is aimed at reversing the decline in bus riders in the wake of several Metrobus accidents last year.

While I like the shiny new buses, I think Metro’s dollars might be better spent improving NextBus service and getting more riders to use it.  A new slogan won’t get me to take the bus, but knowing when the bus is coming so I don’t have to wait out in the cold would.

The Daily Feed
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Metro iPhone app, with bus times

Photo courtesy of Me

Find a Metro DC

When I wrote about WaPo’s questionable iPhone app choice earlier, reader JW said he’d like to see Nextbus functionality incorporated into an app. Ask and ye shall receive – John popped up to say that he’d added exactly that into his app, Find a Metro DC, and it was just waiting on Apple’s approval.

Well, Apple has now approved it so you can go grab it now. I haven’t had the opportunity to try it yet but the bus times is a nice feature that my current metro app doesn’t offer. John also said that he’s got support for you to pick your 3 favorite spots for quick access, a feature I wouldn’t want to give up from my current app.

The Daily Feed, WMATA
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NextBus is Back and Better than Ever

 Photo courtesy of
‘F6 Bus Stop’
courtesy of ‘justgrimes’

It’s July 1st, the day we’ve all been waiting for!  Not only is tonight our first anniversary party (which you should plan to attend, because I hear a certain Metro pylon hat might be there to celebrate), it’s also the day that NextBus finally re-launches here in DC.   You just need a cell phone or an internet connection, and you’ll finally have an answer to the question of whether you have time to grab a coffee before the bus comes.

Here’s how it works.  If you’re like me and you don’t have a web-enabled phone, just call 202-637-7000, and enter your bus stop number shown on the circular NextBus sign.  Update: Or, you can send a text message with your information and get your response via text (thanks, TransitNut!).   If you have web access, simply click on the link from WMATA’s website and you’ll get the estimated arrival times for the next buses serving that bus stop.  You can even bookmark the page, so you’ll have an easy way to tell when the next bus is coming!

I used NextBus this morning and it was spot-on.  I could leave my house a couple minutes later than I usually do, and I still got to work early because I cut down on all that waiting time.  Have you tried NextBus yet?  Let us know how it’s working in the comments.