Tired of waiting for the bus? - There's an Ap for that.
November 25, 2009 by Ally 
We've been trying out the free EdinBus application for the iPhone. Developed by local software developer, Gordon Christie, the application makes getting 'real time' information about buses throughout the city much more accessible - even if you're out and about. In fact, we think it's easier to use than the official website provided by the City of Edinburgh Council.
EdinBus makes it really easy to search for bus stops, save ones that you often use, and then check them to see when the next buses are due to arrive. Best of all, it uses the phones built in GPS to work out your location, so wherever you are in the city, you can check the nearby bus stops to see which buses are due.
The image below shows the kind of information you get when you 'look at' a particular bus stop. Regular bus users will be familiar with the format, as it is exactly the same as the information provided by the electronic bus tracker signs, that have been put up in many bus stops.
We suspect Gordon developed this application for free, and we'd like to thank him profusely for this. We know from our Leith travel attitudes survey, that a major factor that deters people from using public transport more is the wait for the bus. This application could help you to minimise the amount of time you have to wait as it gives you 'live' information on when your bus is due - something we're sure is particularly important given the awful winter weather we've had this week.
If you don't have an iPhone, then you can still get hold of the same information on-line at:
http://www.mybustracker.co.uk/
Ally
If you are amongst the majority of people who do not have an iPhone, then you'll be pleased to know that we've just discovered that another Edinburgh based Techy, called Olly Jackson, has produced a mobile friendly website that will get you bus tracker information for any stop (if you know the bus stop code). So, if you have a phone that does surf the internet (most phones do these days) add this web address to your phones bookmarks:
Bustrackr does require you to know the bus stop code, which means you probably have to be at a particular bus stop to work that out - but nevertheless, it's still pretty useful.
And lastly, Julian Dobson asked this very pertinent question via Twitter:
City of Edinburgh Council, Greener Travel iphone, technology 
Reader Comments (5)
However the bustrackr app does seem to be easier to use (can't comment on the iPhone version as I don't have one).