departing.io - web app for ACTION buses

Righto said :

I have just spent a couple of hours trying to navigate the timetables with no success. IA couple of months ago I received an email from the ACT government advising new bus services in WRIGHT. When I search the ACT Gov web site(Action) for the new services they dont appear. The site has has not been updated. There is a link suggesting details of times after May (two months ago), but if you try to use it you are asked for some unknown password and user code.
What is the point of having a service and not telling anyone about it.
I thought I might like to catch a bus to the Railway Station but the only options were three busses and 3 x 1 km walks, two buses and two x 1 km walks – not easy with suitcases.
I have tried to use the buses many times but always similar problems. Wrong times long walks and 2 hours each way, you can walk quicker. The timetable software is very bad and out of date.
Surely we can think of something better than this.

I’m not sure how this comment is relevant to a 4 month old thread about a bus app but if I look on the action site it shows the 83 goes through wright:
http://www.action.act.gov.au/routes-school-holidays/Route-83-to-Cooleman-Court

I’ve googled and I can’t see mention of any other routes that go through Wright that aren’t listed on the site.

What number routes did they say would be going through Wright?

You might also want to try google maps and input where you want to leave from, where you want to go to and what time and it will tell you the best ways to do so by bus.

I have just spent a couple of hours trying to navigate the timetables with no success. IA couple of months ago I received an email from the ACT government advising new bus services in WRIGHT. When I search the ACT Gov web site(Action) for the new services they dont appear. The site has has not been updated. There is a link suggesting details of times after May (two months ago), but if you try to use it you are asked for some unknown password and user code.
What is the point of having a service and not telling anyone about it.
I thought I might like to catch a bus to the Railway Station but the only options were three busses and 3 x 1 km walks, two buses and two x 1 km walks – not easy with suitcases.
I have tried to use the buses many times but always similar problems. Wrong times long walks and 2 hours each way, you can walk quicker. The timetable software is very bad and out of date.
Surely we can think of something better than this.

Hi Jake,

There is a new bus app Canberra Bus available for both iOS and Android platforms that has the functionality for checking when the next bus arrives once you add a trip to your favourites.

You can check them out here

Android – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.softsmart.canberrabus

iOS – https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/canberra-bus/id983467591?mt=8

By the way your website is cool.

RB78 said :

I have an app called NextThere, which has the map function.

Unfortunately, looks like this is iOS only. Pity.

Did just find a list of apps though on the Action site though that offer some alternatives on both platforms:
http://www.action.act.gov.au/rider_Info/apps

aleayr said :

One feature (because I’m impatient) I’ve thought would be great is to actually see on a map, where the bus is, stuck at an intersection, cruising down the parkway etc.

Not sure whether that’s possible, but did note when I read the documentation there was a reference to GPS positioning information that might be useful.

I have an app called NextThere, which has the map function. You can choose your stop, it then shows you a list of all the routes coming past and when they’ll arrive. Tapping on any of these will show you a map of the route, and tell you where the bus is along it (though I think the buses send a GPS update every 30 seconds or so). It even has a photo of the type of bus so you know what to look out for if you’re at a busier stop.

Hi Jake,

Great to see you’ve gone and put something together like this, hope you had fun building it!

I’m wondering though what yours does differently or better than NXTBUS (http://nxtbus.act.gov.au/)?

I use that web app from Action on a daily basis to see how far away my bus is, it allows me to enter stop numbers (which are printed on the boards at stops), and save them for later access. It also uses the HTML5 geolocation APIs to discover where I am and offer suggestions of stops in the area I might be heading to.

I imagine you’re pulling data from Action’s SIRI APIs? One feature (because I’m impatient) I’ve thought would be great is to actually see on a map, where the bus is, stuck at an intersection, cruising down the parkway etc.

Not sure whether that’s possible, but did note when I read the documentation there was a reference to GPS positioning information that might be useful.

Props for the effort thus far!