Apps that help with the bus commute
Every week in the UK calendar seems to be dedicated to some aspect of life. Last week was National Catch the Bus Week, encouraging people who don’t normally take the bus to try it.
Health benefits and green credentials, especially with the new Hybrid buses, were underlined. There was less, though, on how GPS and mapping solutions are being deployed to fuel renewed enthusiasm for public transport.
Bus stops across the nation have been mapped and are the cornerstones of a range of apps and websites that help find the bus services, wherever you happen to be. Take www.busforus.co.uk for example. Put a postcode or place name into this and it shows you a local map, where the stops are, which buses stop there and their destinations.
Switch to www.nextbuses.mobi or download the matching Nextbuses app for smartphones and you can get at least a schedule of the next buses due at a chosen stop or, increasingly, as GPS tracking is rolled out, live updates of buses on their way. Now that could make a difference, because one of the key reasons for not choosing the bus has been the experience of hanging around at a cold, damp bus stop wondering if it will even turn up.
For Solihull’s local travellers, however, the best app to download might be the Network West Midlands alternative, available for Apple and Android, also online at www.netwmtravelmap.com. This works like NextBuses, but just for the Centro region, and includes live train and metro services times alongside any general service disruption updates.
You can now check on your phone whether a train is running late before you decide to run for it.
