Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
MTA's Real-Time Bus Info, BusTime, Is Going Citywide
By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 22, 2011
Modified Mar 22, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published Mar 22, 2011
Modified Mar 22, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The MTA has big plans, people, big plans. The transit agency is apparently so happy with their real-time bus info services (BusTime) for the B63 that they are getting serious about rolling them out citywide. First up? Bringing them to all of Staten Island's bus riders by the end of the year. The rest of the city will get BusTime in 2012 and 2013.
Staten Island gets first dibs because it is arguably the most bus-dependent of the boroughs (it is currently unclear if the x bus lines will be included in the initial installations). "This really does have the potential to revolutionize how riders perceive and use our bus service," MTA Chairman Jay Walder said yesterday regarding the plans.
The open-source service is actually pretty simple to use. Riders can either text their bus stop's number to 41411 (the stop's number is printed on the bus stop pole) or they can scan a QR code at the stop. Either way a user will then either be taken to a webpage or sent a text message with information on where their next bus is. Try it out for yourself.
And before you start freaking out about the MTA spending more money while still bleeding Benjamins, do remember that the current BusTime system is based on open-source software. According to the agency the service is costing about 70% less to install than a similar proprietary version the MTA tested previously.
Tagged
b63
brooklyn
bus
bustime
MTA
real-time bus info
staten island
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .