[ScottEvtuch]

I also live in Chicago and use CityMapper almost exclusively now. It gives way more detailed estimates for multiple transfers between bus and train and generally comes up with more/better routes for weird destinations.

[doctoboggan]

Does CityMapper suffer from the same "ghost bus" phenomenon that google maps does?

[valarauko]

What's the 'ghost bus' phenomena? I'm in NYC and don't use Google Maps.

[doctoboggan]

In Chicago google maps will show live bus info with the busses location on the map. However some of these are “ghost” busses and they don’t really exist.

I think it’s a uniquely Chicago problem.

Here is an article on it: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/cta-makes-more-changes...

[valarauko]

Huh. In NYC I've had issues with routes designed around scheduled buses that were subsequently cancelled, but I feel I've only had that happen on Transit and not CityMapper. Live bus location on the map for a bus that isn't running is definitely news to me though.

[et-al]

Ghost busses are most likely an issue with the GTFS real-time data from the agency, which the app just displays.

I’ve personally also experienced the same issue with SF’s Muni.

[comte7092]

Can’t speak for Chicago, but this is most likely the case.

As someone who has first hand experience with transit agencies, the tech infrastructure is unfortunately not to the level it should be.

That said, google isn’t always the easiest to communicate with when trying to fix such issues.