I have spoken about how improving CR Transit‘s current schedule format could make the bus experience better by moving away from using multiple files to provide the information we need. The holy grail, for me, would be Google Transit, showing users where to go on a map and telling them the times in a way they can easily read. There has been a lot of transit improvement focus lately in Cedar Rapids, but over a year and a half ago, fellow bus rider Ryan, from Thoughts Abound, created a step in the right direction. He wrote an app available on the web (Firefox and Safari browsers) that wraps the disconnected schedule data in a neat package.
CRbus Main Screen
It’s called CRbus and it provides the same basic information found in CR Transit’s PDFs, but in a much easier, and quicker, format to consume. He updates it as soon as he can after he’s aware of any schedule changes, so it stays up to date. New riders may still need to open the transit maps if they aren’t familiar with a route, but at least this is only two open resources! I think it comes in handy for frequent users that may need to use a familiar route at a different time, or do a quick time check to make sure they aren’t late. I personally need to start using it to check when the route 5 buses arrive at Lindale since I never seem to remember their time schedules.
Give CRbus a try and let us know if it lowers the barrier to riding the Cedar Rapids bus system or if it improves your current bus riding experience!
Tags: corridor, tools, Transit experience
