Orphan Road

Hot off the presses. Transit information system NextBus will be coming to Seattle.

According to my sources, the soon to be completed SLU streetcar will incorporate NextBus technology.

Unlike Metro's homegrown MyBus (and the equally homegrown BusMonster), NextBus is already being used by transit systems around the country, including BART, D.C.'s Metro, and more. They've got some really cool functionality, including an online form that lets you set up automated text messaging to alert you to the impending arrival of a certain bus or train. It's great stuff.

While I'm all about the "can do it" spirit that's gone into MyBus (and thanks, Google, for the funding), I have to ask Metro -- why build something from scratch when there's already a great application out there that does everything you could want it to do?

NextBus suggests that we write Metro and the city and county governments to encourage them to adopt their system. If you're interested, here's the Metro "comments" page: Metro comments.