OneBusAway

I live in the Seattle area, and OneBusAway is an excellent resource for obtaining fairly accurate bus arrival times for various transit agencies serving the region, but I'd like to include a couple of tips, and a minor gotcha that I've experienced more than once (not with accessibility, but with the accuracy of the information). First the tips... 1. The button labeled "Segmented Control Crosshairs" actually is what's used to refresh the map to your current location. If you've viewed a stop's information, but have since arrived at another location, tapping this button will update the map to reflect your current location and it's nearby stops. 2. If you have the time, I recommend visiting the OneBusAway website so you can look up the stop numbers for your most used stops... It saves lots of time when creating your bookmarks in the app since the numbers posted at the actual bus stop aren't the numbers used by OneBusAway. Now for the gotcha... I say the times are fairly accurate, as the bus can arrive from a few moments after the app indicates the bus should be there at your desired stop to as long as 10 minutes afterwards during rush hour. I've learned to add at least 5 to 7 minutes to the arrival time the app displays to be sure that I don't miss my desired bus and be left standing there for up to another 35 minutes (OneBusAway only shows buses arriving within the next 35-40 minutes at most). Otherwise, there's no other gotchas, but I wouldn't be truthful if I didn't point this little annoyance/gotcha out for others.

Admittedly with a limited population of interest, but this is a really nicely done application. Note that accuracy of times depends on two things: 1. The accuracy of the GPS fix on the bus. This can be hampered in downtown Seattle, but should be perfectly acceptable elsewhere. I have seen that "now" for the arrival time can be off by a minute or two, so start running. 2. Some screens, such as the list of buses that will next reach a stop, do not autorefresh. Use the refresh button at the top of the screen. Overall, an invaluable application for the mass-transit user in western Washington.