Resort Busses - New Wait Times Monitors

[abner1776]

My first impression of the new TV monitors at the resorts showing bus wait times was positive...it's always nice to see when the next bus for MK is scheduled to arrive.

Unfortunately in practice over the past week, the monitor times were less than perfect and "time creep" was very evident on many occasions...what's time creep you ask ?

So you show up at the bus stop and see that the next MK bus is to arrive at 7:50 and it's now 7:40...ok, I have to wait 10 minutes. 5 minutes goes by and you look at the monitor and it now says the next bus for MK is at 7:55 not 7:50...then it changes to 7:56, then 7:57..and so on and so on. Eventually, the time creeps up to 8:15 and the bus finally arrives at 8:16. This happened to me nearly 40% of the time over the past week. Sometimes the creep was 5 minutes all the way up to 20 minutes on one occasion.

Maybe Disney is working out the bugs with the system and I applaud them on trying something positive with respect to the bus system, but really...don't tell me the bus will be there in 10 minutes if it's really doing to be there in 30 minutes. In this case, less info is better.

 

[MrsHammer]

I definitely see your point, but you have to understand that arrival times are ever changing for a reason. Think of when you are driving somewhere in your car. Factors influence your arrival time such as traffic, weather, hitting every light red, etc. I believe there are GPS trackers on the bus that automatically update those times on the monitors. It would be nice if they could predict exactly when the bus is going to arrive well ahead of time, but, in reality, it is an unrealistic expectation.

 

[Hopefully]

My first impression of the new TV monitors at the resorts showing bus wait times was positive...it's always nice to see when the next bus for MK is scheduled to arrive.

Unfortunately in practice over the past week, the monitor times were less than perfect and "time creep" was very evident on many occasions...what's time creep you ask ?

So you show up at the bus stop and see that the next MK bus is to arrive at 7:50 and it's now 7:40...ok, I have to wait 10 minutes. 5 minutes goes by and you look at the monitor and it now says the next bus for MK is at 7:55 not 7:50...then it changes to 7:56, then 7:57..and so on and so on. Eventually, the time creeps up to 8:15 and the bus finally arrives at 8:16. This happened to me nearly 40% of the time over the past week. Sometimes the creep was 5 minutes all the way up to 20 minutes on one occasion.

Maybe Disney is working out the bugs with the system and I applaud them on trying something positive with respect to the bus system, but really...don't tell me the bus will be there in 10 minutes if it's really doing to be there in 30 minutes. In this case, less info is better.

You certainly have a right to your opinion, but based on past posts here on this subject, you are in the minority on this

I definitely see your point, but you have to understand that arrival times are ever changing for a reason. Think of when you are driving somewhere in your car. Factors influence your arrival time such as traffic, weather, hitting every light red, etc. I believe there are GPS trackers on the bus that automatically update those times on the monitors. It would be nice if they could predict exactly when the bus is going to arrive well ahead of time, but, in reality, it is an unrealistic expectation.

I agree. It is a reflection of ever changing conditions and I personally like the updated info. Yes I wish the bus would come in the originally noted 10 minutes, but I like knowing where it is at at any given moment in reality

 

[Disneylover99]

I'd still like to to know when the bus is coming, even with a "time creep". It's a good time to run to the food court and grab a coffee.

 

[goofy4tink]

If the, for instance, MK bus is leaving MK and heading to BW, the time might show to be 15 mins later. BUT..if that bus hits every red light, and gets stuck behind a slow poke, that time could easily 'creep' to 20 mins. There is no way for it to be an exact time....well, unless the bus sprouts wings and flies over the traffic.
It's better than nothing...besides, I've seldom seen the time creep more than 10 mins, it's usually around 5-8 mins.

 

[magicaldisney]

My first impression of the new TV monitors at the resorts showing bus wait times was positive...it's always nice to see when the next bus for MK is scheduled to arrive.

Unfortunately in practice over the past week, the monitor times were less than perfect and "time creep" was very evident on many occasions...what's time creep you ask ?

So you show up at the bus stop and see that the next MK bus is to arrive at 7:50 and it's now 7:40...ok, I have to wait 10 minutes. 5 minutes goes by and you look at the monitor and it now says the next bus for MK is at 7:55 not 7:50...then it changes to 7:56, then 7:57..and so on and so on. Eventually, the time creeps up to 8:15 and the bus finally arrives at 8:16. This happened to me nearly 40% of the time over the past week. Sometimes the creep was 5 minutes all the way up to 20 minutes on one occasion.

Maybe Disney is working out the bugs with the system and I applaud them on trying something positive with respect to the bus system, but really...don't tell me the bus will be there in 10 minutes if it's really doing to be there in 30 minutes. In this case, less info is better.

I'm actually confused on what you're saying. The monitors are there to simply tell you the time the bus will be arriving. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm not sure what "bugs" you think there are. If the bus is stopped behind traffic you are being informed that the time of arrival will be different.

I totally disagree that less info is better. If I get to the bus stop and see I have 15 minutes until the bus comes, I might choose to run to the restroom because it's not going to get there earlier, for the most part only at the time I'm seeing or later.

 

[Sydney2977]

I'd still like to to know when the bus is coming, even with a "time creep". It's a good time to run to the food court and grab a coffee.

That's exactly what I did one morning when I saw I had 15 minutes to wait! We liked knowing that they are keeping track of buses and sharing that info with us. In our 8 day trip this month, there was only once where the time extended over 10 minutes past the original posted time.
DS was in an ecv because he broke his ankle, and the waiting space for those is right at the end of the curb. It was nice knowing the order the buses were coming so he could either pull up there to alert the driver, or hang back out of the way till the bus we were waiting for came.

 

[Disneylover99]

That's exactly what I did one morning when I saw I had 15 minutes to wait! We liked knowing that they are keeping track of buses and sharing that info with us. In our 8 day trip this month, there was only once where the time extended over 10 minutes past the original posted time.
DS was in an ecv because he broke his ankle, and the waiting space for those is right at the end of the curb. It was nice knowing the order the buses were coming so he could either pull up there to alert the driver, or hang back out of the way till the bus we were waiting for came.

We've stayed at Pop our last three visits, so I've yet to experience the bus monitors.

 

[Shanti]

My first impression of the new TV monitors at the resorts showing bus wait times was positive...it's always nice to see when the next bus for MK is scheduled to arrive.

Unfortunately in practice over the past week, the monitor times were less than perfect and "time creep" was very evident on many occasions...what's time creep you ask ?

So you show up at the bus stop and see that the next MK bus is to arrive at 7:50 and it's now 7:40...ok, I have to wait 10 minutes. 5 minutes goes by and you look at the monitor and it now says the next bus for MK is at 7:55 not 7:50...then it changes to 7:56, then 7:57..and so on and so on. Eventually, the time creeps up to 8:15 and the bus finally arrives at 8:16. This happened to me nearly 40% of the time over the past week. Sometimes the creep was 5 minutes all the way up to 20 minutes on one occasion.

Maybe Disney is working out the bugs with the system and I applaud them on trying something positive with respect to the bus system, but really...don't tell me the bus will be there in 10 minutes if it's really doing to be there in 30 minutes. In this case, less info is better.

Thanks for the heads-up about this problem.

 

[DebbieB]

I noticed this at BWV in December. One big example was an AK bus that "creeped" 15 or 20 minutes. It started about 10 minutes away from the time I got there, ended up about 25 or 30. It was around 10:00am and I was running a little late for my safari fastpass so I was getting anxious, especially since it's in the back of the park.

 

[DVC-Don]

It goes both ways. While at OKW there was a family at the Hospitality House stop and noted the Epcot bus they were waiting for was due in 10 minutes. Two of the women then stated they were off to the rest room nearby. Well, the bus showed up 5 minutes early. The family had to skip that bus.

 

[magicaldisney]

I noticed this at BWV in December. One big example was an AK bus that "creeped" 15 or 20 minutes. It started about 10 minutes away from the time I got there, ended up about 25 or 30. It was around 10:00am and I was running a little late for my safari fastpass so I was getting anxious, especially since it's in the back of the park.

Would not having the board there make you less anxious about it? I would think not knowing would be worse.

 

[Disneylover99]

It goes both ways. While at OKW there was a family at the Hospitality House stop and noted the Epcot bus they were waiting for was due in 10 minutes. Two of the women then stated they were off to the rest room nearby. Well, the bus showed up 5 minutes early. The family had to skip that bus.

So did the monitor "creep down" while they were gone?

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Frankly the bus arrivail.times aregoing to be a changing thing. Traffic lights, traflfic., loading times etc etc are all.going to.effect and cuase changing of the etas, either fast or.slow

The bottom line.is if the.final correct ETAs could be predicted without error or changes, we would not.need the tv screens.

This is not a.problem or a issue, it's a.fact of transportation operations

,
AKK
..

 

[MillauFr]

Disney should be able to predict delays due to traffic congestion. They have travel times signs on many of the freeways here and street here that do a pretty good job at predicting travel times. As far as loading... The system would have to access the security cameras they have at the bus stops to predict how long the bus will dwell at the stop. The is no reason it couldn't be able to determine if there was a large number of scooter, wheel chairs, strollers, etc.

It is great that Disney is trying to improve the bus experience. Next they need to reserve lanes just for the buses on all of the roads around the resort.

 

[tinkerbella16]

I noticed this at Riverside in November on their bus monitor. I didn't mind the "time creep" as it was much better knowing it was coming a few minutes later, than it staying at the same time and the bus not showing up at all. I think that is a great thing, that it updates.

Anyone know if Beach Club has the monitors? I know not every resort has them yet. I have only stayed at POR the last 3 years and they've had it when we went in 2013.

 

[DVC-Don]

So did the monitor "creep down" while they were gone?

No

 

[kaytieeldr]

Disney should be able to predict delays due to traffic congestion. They have travel times signs on many of the freeways here and street here that do a pretty good job at predicting travel times

Streets? How is it possible to accurately track travel time on city streets? :confused2

It is great that Disney is trying to improve the bus experience. Next they need to reserve lanes just for the buses on all of the roads around the resort.

Impossible. Different if it were one long uninterrupted stretch of road - think carpool lane - but too many revamps, exits, merging vehicles...

 

[MillauFr]

Streets? How is it possible to accurately track travel time on city streets? :confused2

Impossible. Different if it were one long uninterrupted stretch of road - think carpool lane - but too many revamps, exits, merging vehicles...

In Seattle we use cell phone signals to measure congestion and track travel times. Amazon Fresh has a pretty sophisticated routing system for their van drivers that does a pretty good job of reducing travel times for its drivers.

Again many of the major transit corridors on city streets here have Bus Only Lanes. The bus only lanes also get signal priority which gives them a jump on the rest of the traffic and can extend green time in order for an approaching bus to make it though the intersection before it turns red...

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.615...oWuX6JkR8210eRHdsxAw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

 

[cedricandsophie]

I really like the monitors but my experience has been positive. I almost missed the bus once when it said 10 min, I went to bathroom and came back to find bus just pulling in, less than 5 min later. Another time the bus came two min early and once one min late. I think the monitors are a big improvement b