What a lovely service especially if you have a phone that's capable of displaying HTML. It has never been wrong yet although I won't rely on it most of the time 38, 14, 49, 26, 22, and 26 is that I use it for. Especially if the buses are crossing areas with heavy traffic like 16th & Mission St. It's understandable that it'll a couple of minutes late in that situation. I just wish they would install the timers at all of the bus stops so that those without internet access on their phones can know when the next bus is coming too. Edit: 3/20 Case in point. Last night at around 8pm I was waiting for a 22 at Fillmore & Jackson. Nextbus said the NextBus would arrive in 34 minutes. So I took the 24 down to Geary and took the next 38 which arrived in 1 minute. I took it all the way down to Van Ness and noticed that the next 49 was coming in 53 minutes. The 47 was there and I checked NextBus for upcoming J car (in 8 minutes) and I was able to catch the train and get home. So in a sense, a knowledge of where the lines go together with NextBus allows me to plan alternate routes if a bus I rely on is late. It's better than the old days of just waiting and waiting there. read more

NextBus.com is super helpful! How it works: Combines GPS data with predictive software to give arrival times for the next few vehicles, either on the Internet or at the stop. read more

If you're a MUNI slave (and particularly if you're a slave to the 33, 24 or the N like I am), this is probably the most useful website in existence for you. Worth getting Internet access on your phone for. 33 Stanyan riders should know that it frequently changes the arrival time from 60 minutes to say, 5 minutes so you gotta run out the door because the following one is usually an hour later. What is the deal with that bus line? Anyway, Nextbus rules! Getting it on every MUNI line would probably be too helpful and the city would explode with efficiency. Can't have that happen here. Too European. Extra star added because they are slowly putting the rest of the diesel lines up, including the 49. If you take the 49 on a regular basis, you will understand how significant this is. read more

When this system is working, it's the best! However, when it's not working (which isn't infrequent in my experience), it can really mess up your day...and your mood. (It can also jack up your wallet. There are several times when I could have walked somewhere, but I wasted time based on the Next Bus promise of a bus and ended up with no choice but to blow money on a cab.) If the system doesn't know when the bus is coming, it should just say "no prediction available" so you can make other plans. I hate when it says "8 minutes," then you check 17 minutes later and it says there's a bus in "4 minutes." Then it's 10 minutes later and the bus still isn't there, you have no hope of getting where you need to be on the bus, every cab going by is full, and you end up having to change your appointment. (Obviously, this is based on personal experience.) Again, this system is great when it's working, but it's just too unreliable. (Maybe it's the routes I take?) read more

Nextbus.com has changed my life. Seriously. I am the biggest procrastinator, with no time management skills, and I'm late for everything. I don't know why it happens, I always plan on being where I need to be early, but more often than not I'm five to ten minutes late. I could never figure out the right time to leave my apartment to arrive on time, and then Nextbus came into my life. I have it in my Safari bookmarks bar on my computer at home, and bookmarked in my cell phone's browser. Now, no matter where I am, I always know when the bus is coming and I can schedule my time accordingly. Not only that, but if I'm in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and have a general idea of the bus lines but not the stop locations, Nextbus helps me figure that out too. The only negative thing is that I'm now entirely dependent on it, and I don't know what I would do if it ever left me. Don't leave me! I love you! read more

Coolest thing ever. Even better now that bus lines that are close to other bus lines all show up on your mobile results page. Me + Blackberry + Nextbus = me arriving before you even found parking. PSSSS here is a secret, easier to navigate mobile web address... http://www.palal.net/nextbus/index.wml read more

Nextbus is why I have internet on my phone. Nextbus is why I don't have to carry my down jacket with me in case I get stuck waiting for the bus for 20 minutes. Nextbus is why I hate MUNI just a little bit less. read more

When it works, it's OH SO GOOD. It prevents me from being late, getting harassed for too long by my lovely, fellow almost-humans waiting at the stop and from freezing my tush off in these new arctic temperatures we're experiencing in SF. When it doesn't work, it MAKES ME CRY. There I was, with aforementioned freezing derriere, wistfully staring at my iPhone as it counted down the time: 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, arriving, *insert crickets here*, 27 minutes. I'm not that stupid, Nextbus.com! I can tell when the bus doesn't arrive (despite your black-on-white proclamations) by the simple fact that I'm still freezing my ass off on the sidewalk!!! Bah Humbug. read more

I've been using NextBus for about a year, and my wait times for Muni have dropped quite dramatically since. The system is not perfect, and I usually allow a five-minute difference between the posted time and the actual time that my ride appears. Overall, I'd say that the estimated times are well above ninety-five percent correct. Not exclusively but usually I find more discrepancies after 10 PM on weeknights. I've noticed often when two buses travel back-to-back the GPS tracking system will only pick up one of the buses. That's screwed me up a couple of times when I've missed the first bus then decide to walk to my destination only to have a second bus speed right pass me. There are also ghost buses that will appear on the screen momentarily then disappear when you go to update the arrival times. One of the neighborhood buses that I take daily often does not show up correctly possible because I live on a hill and somehow the signal gets blocked, but most of time I've had really good luck with NextBus. I'm thankful for this service because it helps me plan out my alternative routes when I really want to make it home quickly. read more

This has revolutionized public transportation in SF. No more waiting for the bus and wondering when it is going to arrive. Benefits: 1. Plan better and save time 2. Save money on cab rides getting to / from work 3. Avoid the dreaded walk through Chinatown 4. Not have to walk up the steep hills 5. Spare my shoes (or be forced to carry an extra pair for the walk) This is a fantastic service and I wish I had known about it earlier. Fortunately a nice girl at the bus stop told me about it. It covers more bus lines than stated in previous reviews so they must have added more. Check it out. If you don't have internet access, you can call 415-673-6864 to find out when the next bus will arrive. read more

This service is amazing. It came in handy when I was living in the DC area. The buses run slower on the weekends there about 30 min to an hour for buses. Waiting in freezing 20 degree weather for an hour is no fun. With NextBus, I was able to time my walking distance to the bus stop. You can look up times on your mobile phone. http://www.nextmuni.com There's over 50+ bus lines now (not counting the trains). read more

This site kicks so much ass. I mean really. From my house I have 4 different buses all within blocks of each other that will get me downtown or to BART. If I'm leaving in a rush how do I know what block to walk to? A simple 30 seconds on NextBus.com and I'm good to go! Or if I'm out and about? I have like 5 different bus stops and lines book marked in my cell phone!!! this site is very mobile browser friendly. I always know if I need to be running my ass off to the stop or if I can take it chill. read more

An imperfect system for a transportation system that's definitely less than perfect. Sure, the NextBus estimates can sometimes change dramatically in the blink of an eye, but I find that's less and less true. For many errors, and definitely for the lack of routes, MUNI is really the one to blame. (All of the routes are really available in the system; MUNI just refuses to turn them on.) But if you have wireless Internet on your cell phone, NextBus is an invaluable tool to avoid standing around in the cold, the rain... or just standing around. Definitely makes my list of favorite Bay Area tech toys. read more

I use the N all the time, and find Nextbus very accurate (if I put a number on it ... 90% of the time). When I see there are 7 minutes to go, I start walking and bam. N arrives. I also bookmarked the site on my cell phone so I can see when the next one is gonna arrive. I use this thing every day I get on the N. read more

I want so badly to give Nextbus five stars. It's treated me kindly so many times for so many different muni lines. I figured out that I can get from the fourth floor of my apartment building down a hill to the N-Judah stop a block away in just 4 minutes. But, Nextbus, I have to dock you two stars because the one time I tried to show off how cool you are (and how cool I am for depending on you) to my friend, you let me down. And you let me down big time. We were enjoying a nice meal in the inner sunset on a chilly winter evening. She needed to catch muni to get back home. She was planning to take the N-Judah which picked up a couple of blocks away. I said, "let me pull out my handy iphone so that I can look up when the next one will show up." It was 21 minutes away. So then I suggested she take a bus whose stop was across the street from our restaurant. I looked up the arrival time on nextbus, and it said 6 minutes. That gave us enough time to chat a little longer. OR SO WE THOUGHT. Not 1 minute later did the bus roll right past us. Doh! She had to go the extra two blocks and wait in the cold. I still use you, nextbus, but you weren't there for me, and I don't know that I'll ever be able to recommend you to my friends again. read more

I bet you're wondering why there's a review of a company with such a plane-jane type of name? Check out nextbus.com - it shows real-time arrival information for many different transit agencies. (Folks here in San Francisco: it covers the 22, 24, 33, F, J, K, L, M & N routes) In addition to showing when the next bus will show up at a particular stop, it can also display route maps that indicate the position of each vehicle on the route. I don't have a internet enabled wireless phone, so I cant check to see exactly how accurate their information is -- I mainly use it as a cue of when to walk out the door. Pretty handy on the weekends - when Muni's schedule is capricious (to say the best). It'd be nice if they covered more routes. update 12/22/06: Muni NextBus Implementation Schedule: The remaining trolley lines will be available online in Spring 2007 All diesel lines will be available online in Fall 2007. Nice! read more

My Blackberry and I use this site almost as much as the midget porn site. Almost. But at least I can tell when the bus is about to come and the other site doesn't offer that convenience. [I crack myself up sometimes, seriously] read more

The most useful website created in the last five years. Has probably saved me 24 hours in one year. Anyone who's ever waited an hour for the AC Transit 82 bus can testify to this. read more

this is my life: N Judah - inbound J Duboce 27 @ Cal / Hyde 27 @ Cyril Mag 22 Haight - Mission 22 Haight - Marina 12 Jasckon - FiDi 1 Cal - Sac @ Van Ness 22 Fillmore @ Sac - Haight F @ Green toward Ferry Building 1 Cal @ Bat / Sac 10 FiDi @ Green 10 Sansome @ Sac - Levi F @ Main / Market 7 - Haight @ Haight / Fill DT 22 @ 16th / Valencia - Haight 22 - Fillmore @ Sutter 71 - @ Fillmore inbound 41 - Wash / Sansome 71 - Market @ Stockton - Haight 49 - inbound Van Ness @ Market 5 - Fulton, Outbound - Market @ Sansome (to Fly Bar) thank you for being accurate and suggesting alternate routes when I don't like the wait for my original search, nextbus. read more

I am not good with waiting. Last year was the first time my boyfriend and I repeatedly rode the Muni. Because he hurt his foot we would have to cut plans short so his cell phone came in handy to look for the nearest bus stop to take us back. We didn't have to wait for a bus that never came just because we saw other people at the bus stop. Whenever I travel I endlessly copy down directions but my friends and I don't always follow the itinerary so this helps. read more

Nextbus is atrocious. It's much worse than nothing. Time after time I've had Nextbus indicate a bus was due in, say, 20 minutes, then five minutes later, have it tell me the bus had departed. The only good thing to say about Nextbus is, is, um, it's easy to spell? It's terrible: don't trust it for a moment, you'll be disappointed. read more

Well since the internet afflicted me with ADD five years ago that I have been trying to cure, here comes the Nextbus to push me off the wagon again. I used to read books while waiting for public transit now all I do is stare at the sign. On the plus side the Nextbus does provide its entertainments... for one the Nextbus Rush-In-Dip 'n-Watch can be amusing. In this one, when people see the sign they rush in, dip, and watch ... usually behaving with the same mannerisms and expression of a cat that runs up when you get the can opener. Fun. But I like my NB signs. This is a good use of public tax dollars because I think it helps more people get used to public transportation, and that is something we all need more of in this world. read more

As a newbie to the services of Muni, the nextbus site has been very user-friendly! I enjoy the route maps, the real-time info, the schedule, and it even displays the weather! It's a pretty cool site to use right before heading out the door!! No more having to run !!! read more

I had this site bookmarked and visited it every morning. There is more than one way to skin a cat and there is certainly more than one way to get to work. This is where NextBus becomes an urbanites aphrodisiac and perfect boyfriend. I loath waiting at bus stops for inordinate amounts of time. iPod you can't even save me from the perils of boredom. Now that you've entered my life Nextbus, everything has changed. You're on time. You give me options. You always tell me the right answers via mobile phone. You let me know if I have time to grab a coffee or if socks won't be a luxury for me today. I even had my procrastination so timed out that I knew I could s p r i n t down Washington Street when I had 3 minutes to go to pick up the 27 Bryant at 6:00am. 3 days a week the same bus driver would see me sprint down the hill. Yes, I looked pretty batty hurling down that hill. But hey, I was always on time thanks to Nextbus. read more

I live right on the 24 - Divis and have an inbound and an outbound stop right in front of my house. One day, while stoned on the crip and sitting inside watching The View, I logged in and, lo and behold, the fucking nextbus thingy was so accurate it kinda freaked me out. That was cool. read more

NextBus should get 5 stars just for opening up the world of public transpo to lots more people--I have 3 friends who used to use their cars to get around SF figure out how easy it is to plan your bus trip, and that most of the time using MUNI is *way* faster and cheaper than driving and looking for a parking place, and then paying a parking ticket. I suspect that it's actually MUNI who is to blame for me dingingNextBus one star: way too many bus shelters--mostly the new ones--are broken and without power, so the NextBus monitor doesn't work. Can't those shelters be solar powered? On the routes I take, well over half of the new shelters that have been recently installed are lacking in power after having once worked correctly. On the 22, it's particularly annoying because the outtages are at major intersections and/or transfer points along my particular route: Fillmore and Haight southbound: BROKEN; Church and Market northbound: BROKEN; 16th and Bryant eastbound: BROKEN; 16th and Potrero eastbound: BROKEN. Seriously guys--the 22 is a major crosstown line that makes important connections at all of the previously mentioned broken stops, and after you've become "addicted" to the ease of NextBus, it's uber-annoying to have all these important stops without power. But overall, NextBus and your text message app on my low-tech cellphone, I heart you! read more

I would rate it higher, but there is never any info for the 16 bus, so there's a net loss of 50% of the information I need to plan my commute. Typisch. read more

I actually like this "service." I have the mobile address bookmarked into my cell phone so I can see when the 44 or 52 will arrive, and if I should just walk to BART. True, it may not be totally reliable, but it covers every stop on the line. Not just the ones with a shelter. I think this might be my shortest review! read more

It just update the arrival time of the bus. But does not make the bus help the bus arrive on time. They should put temperature and if the sky is clear also news headline., read more

I use nextbus about every day and I've recommended it to a lot of people. However, it has to work or people won't use it. 1) I like to look up at home when the bus is coming, then be able to leave just before it comes. Bookmarks are great for this. Try looking up SF Muni 22 going south from Fillmore and Jackson. This stop and a few around it went missing. I sent email to feedback@nextbus.com twice, no response, no fix. (... 7/28/2008: they did reply and it is fixed now). A bookmark can be made for each stop you use often. 2) One person I recommended it to tried to get the SF Muni 33 from Potrero. It never came. He went back home for his car. Maybe something is wrong with the configuration for this stop too. There are going to be limitations. After all it's a GPS on the bus with a wireless data link to send its location. I find it's most inaccurate at the beginning few stops of a line, where it can't anticipate when a driver will start a route. Perhaps if it had information about when the bus got to the end of the line and how long the driver needs for a break, then it could be more accurate here. I've had this issue many times for the #24 going south from Jackson and Divisidero, since this is only 4 blocks from where the route stops. Sometimes the GPS unit on a bus isn't working, so a bus comes anyway. I hope nextbus.com will clean up so people will adopt it and use it. They may not give it another chance later if they try it now and drop it. The SF Muni in general has this perception problem ... they've improved incredibly, but a lot people who have lived in SF for more than 10 years have memories of it being disfunctional, have written it off and tell me not to bother with it. read more

I recently got a new phone and lost all my bookmarks. I read reviews that the apps still were not as good as the website. I looked at the Ada and Simple web sites as well as the mobile site and these all had problems with navigation and live maps (needing Java) What I ended up using is a "secret" Nextbus website. Http://Nextbus.com/mini.html It is very quick, easy to navigate and supports live maps without Java. read more

MUNI's NextBus has definitely made my commute on PT much more bearable. Gone is the "MUNI gaze" at the horizon looking for a bus that will not show up. In my experience, it's been accurate about 90% of the time. Now I know I can stay at the bar for just one more drink or duck into Walgreen's for a bag of candy without the risk of missing my bus. read more

Next bus runs at about 77% accuracy for me. The site needs a little help in the usability area, as does the phone service, but overall I totally dig nextbus. The idea is awesome and with a little fine tuning and perhaps some better financial backing, this system can reach its full potential. read more

I dont know about nextbus, its incredibly inacurate. I take the j, it picks me up and drops me off infront of dolores park, it should be the only real circuit train coming up and down church street, but for some reason its never on time, next bus will say "Ariving" so we make a mad dash out the door (yeah we live across the street) and we get there and its a flippen N line... WTF!!! why is there an N on church, and this happens every morning in different intervals, sometimes its 1 N line, sometimes 2 in a row.. always going In bound.. what are their lil radars locking onto??? its sure not the J.. read more

Better since they added all the trolley lines, and better still since I got internet capability on my mobile phone. My life, streamlined.

I use it mainly to track the 22 and 24, and it has worked really well for me. I can time my walks to the stop so that I arrive just before the bus gets there; it saves a lot of time waiting. The downsides? It's not on every line. AND it's buggy every now and then. And when that happens, the arrival time changes dramatically. read more

In the East Bay, Nextbus covers the EmeryGoRound and the AC Transit 72 line, both of which I use frequently. For EmeryGoRound, in addition to the Nextbus site, you can check the arrivals via your wireless device or just call a number and punch in the code on the sign at the bus stop. Most AC Transit bus shelters have signs that show you when the next bus arrives. For the most part, the predictions are accurate; only when the bus is arriving momentarily or is too close to the terminus would they not give a prediction at all. Sometimes, the site via wireless goes down, it seems. If you want your transit operator to use Nextbus on more routes, contact them and tell them so. Right now, as I understand, most of Nextbus's affiliations with transit companies are on a "trial" basis, so the more people use the service and demand more routes to be covered, the more likely it is to happen. read more

i always check nextbus.com everytime i want to step out of the door. its like my daily bible for me. i hate waiting for bus/muni to come. i hate to keep checking on my watch and look over the muni to come on my way. i hate to bear windy ocean breeze everytime i wait for N-judah. i hate to run just to catch the muni. sum up- Nextbus is helpful. read more

I used to love this service. However, lately, the shuttles have been extremely spotty with being on time. Some don't even show - especially on the Hollis Route. Timing when they do show can be extremely poor. I've witnessed the same route have shuttles show in 1 minutes intervals, yet have to wait 30-40 min at others. The app can give guidance, but isn't always accurate. The drivers used to be friendly, but it's a thankless job, so most are surly. read more

helpful, but only for the #22 or #24 bus. guess it was too EFFICIENT for SF MUNI to buy for its #38 or #30 bus.