The 3 AM bus tracker lie I kept falling for until last month

For like two years I trusted that little countdown on the city transit app, the one saying the 42 bus was 4 minutes out. I'd sprint to the stop on Grand Ave, and then wait 25 minutes in the cold with nothing. Last month I compared the app to the live GPS map on the transit website, and they were off by 11 minutes at 3 AM. Turns out the app only updates every 15 minutes, so that number is basically a guess after midnight. Now I check the website map first and only leave my door when the bus icon is actually two stops away. Has anyone else caught the app doing this during late shifts or is it just my route?

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piper_burns2mo ago

The 42 bus got me too, but with the 7:15 PM one near the hospital. I spent a whole winter trusting that countdown and freezing my toes off while it sat at the terminal for no reason. Last time I checked the app, it said 3 minutes, and the actual bus rolled up 18 minutes later with the same driver who looked super confused when I glared at him. Now I just watch the GPS map and treat the app like a fun little lie detector test instead of real info. Someone needs to fix that thing or at least put a warning sticker on it that says "numbers may be imaginary after dark.

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