A mere three weeks after it was proposed, a new service that tracks when your bus is arriving has officially launched in Brooklyn.
Roadify, a Park Slope-based start-up, has linked up the B67 bus line (Kensington, Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn, and DUMBO) to an online, SMS-based application called BAM, or BusesAroundMe.
Passengers can now access the MTA’s bus schedule and update set scheduled times for other riders waiting further down the line by sending a text message known as a “GIVE”. The service would then time-stamp that location in order to register a more accurate estimated time of arrival for other users requesting the service.
“BAM is another way in which Roadify is working to combine community with commuting,” said Roadify’s Dan Robinson. “To put BAM’s power into perspective: If one user sent a GIVE that showed the bus was running five minutes late and it reached 50 bus riders further along the route, that one user saved over 4 hours of total waiting time.”
Now Roadify is looking to expand to other bus lines, and the next line that receives 100 votes will be adopted. So far the B62 which stretches from downtown Brooklyn through the Navy Yard and up Williamsburg and Greenpoint is in the lead with 37 votes, though the B63 stretching from Fort Hamilton, through Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, and Gowanus to Park Slope, is second with 34 votes.
“People want to help one another. Roadify is just making it easy,” said Robinson.
In order to access the new service, users can text BAM to 95495 for further instructions or visit the BusesAroundMe section of www.Roadify.com. In order to cast a vote for the next BusesAroundMe line, e-mail [email protected] or tweet @Roadify.
