We’ve all been there, you’re standing waiting for the TTC bus it’s –25 you can’t feel your toes or fingers. Each passing taxi looks like salvation but you resist the urge to flag it down because you’re sure the next bus is just around the corner. Of course it’s not and you continue to wait another 10 minutes, at which point your toes have turned a deep shade of blue and another taxi starts approaching. This time your not so certain that the bus is around the corner, you try to resist but the lour of the warm taxi is too much and you flag it down. We’ll we all know what happens next, no sooner do you sit down on the cracked plastic seat of an aged Crown Vic. then do you hear that high pitched whir of an approaching bus!
Well my friends no more! With little to no fan fair and even less media coverage the TTC released it’s automated vehicle scheduling system a number of months ago, it’s called Next Vehicle Arrival System (NVAS). This fantastic little piece of technology allows the user to see exactly when the next bus is coming. Developed by the people at NextBus the system gives real time updates of all vehicles on the system. So no more guessing or trying to decipher those cryptic time tables posted by the stops (which at best are guesstimations based on a city with no cars). Simply pull out your chosen smart phone and go to www.nextBus.com from there you will be able to install a direct link that you uses the internal GPS in your phone to tell you when the next bus closest to you will arrive. Most importantly these times are not based on a set schedule but rather on live GPS information that is relayed from each bus. It is a real time, life and toe saver to be sure, to learn more and start using the NextBus system just follow the links below.
To read more about NVAS and the TTC go to:
http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects_and_initiatives/Customer_Information_Initiatives/Next_vehicle_information_system/index.jsp
To install the NextBus on your smart phone:
http://www.nextbus.com/wirelessConfig/PDAs.jsp
To see when the next bus is coming from the comfort of your computer:
http://www.nextbus.com/predictor/stopSelector.jsp?a=ttc