Bus arrival schedule board?

[fosse76]

Why do we need to track the shuttle busses? I'm ok with knowing every 20 minutes (or so) the bus will be there.

(1) The buses don't always arrive every 20 minutes. I've waited in excess of 40 minutes for a bus...and not as a result of crowding and having to wait for other buses, either.

(2) Personally, I'd rather NOT arrive only 1 or 2 minutes AFTER a bus has LEFT, thereby not knowing I have (at least) 18 minutes until the bus arrives.

(3) In the mornings it probably doesn't matter so much, since buses are more frequent, but I've often waited for a bus to a particular park, and in the 30 minutes I have to wait, I see 4 buses (empty) come and go to Downtown Disney. If I knew I'd what time the bus was coming, I wouldn't have to stand in the hot sun for 30 minutes, but can find some shade.

 

[fosse76]

The NYC subway has things on most platforms now that tell you how long it will be till each train arrives. I was really skeptical that they'd get it installed, but they did, and it's a huge help. It really helps to know ahead of time how long the wait is, even though that knowledge doesn't make your trip or wait shorter, it sure feels like it makes the wait shorter. It would be great if they did this with the WDW buses.

It's not even close to being on most platforms. Though the equipment/displays appear to be installed on a large number of platforms, they aren't even close to all being activated to alert to wait times.

 

[jkl2000]

It's not even close to being on most platforms. Though the equipment/displays appear to be installed on a large number of platforms, they aren't even close to all being activated to alert to wait times.

How about most platforms in Manhattan? Seems like it, anyway.

BTW (to a different poster above), a good reason people may want to know that the next bus isn't for 20 minutes is that they might decide to take a cab or other option instead.

 

[Goofyernmost]

You beat me to it! The routes seem to be determined "on the fly" based on crowd/ridership patterns at any particular moment, so it would require some level of manpower to keep accurate, either by a dispatcher or the bus driver himself.

Some do follow the directions of the dispatcher. Drivers do not make decisions on their own and dispatchers do occasionally switch runs around, but not all and certainly not constantly. The resulting confusion would be epic. If a bus is delayed for some reason they might divert a bus that is on a route that has more buses running then others. If they just did it constantly, every trip, there would be total disorganization and problems. Perhaps that is why they have some of the problems that you mentioned. If the buses are scheduled to arrive every twenty minutes and one bus is called to cover for another from your route...then the next bus to arrive at your location is now forty minutes. There are just so many buses available. When one is taken from one area, another area suffers. I stated earlier..."for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction".

It cannot be freelance. No person or persons can keep track of every bus, where it is and where it should go next. It just normally goes wherever it was predetermined to go according to their schedule. If it's delayed only slightly, then they do nothing, it just runs later then usual hoping to catch up as time goes on. They usually do catch up, but sometimes it takes quite a bit of time.