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Can't we just "check in" to a bus stop on an app, then have the bus create a route based on that?

How about a button at each stop, with a live estimate when the bus will arrive?

Currently, the bus system is like a newspaper. Inconvenient, messy and smells bad.

Chicago buses have an estimated arrival at most stops along the major routes. Every single but stop also has a unique number on the sign that you can text to a service and get estimates back by text. It makes using buses so much easier and less of a hassle because there's less guessing involved. I had my usual stop numbers memorized so I could text ahead of time and see when to leave, or maybe decide to just walk the route instead of waiting if it was going to be a while. They have that info on a website but texting was faster.

> How about a button at each stop, with a live estimate when the bus will arrive?

There are already many, many apps for that.

Google Maps will give you some decent good route mapping and alternatives, though less realtime than apps that use data back ends like NextBus.

You can do better routing than Google if you're familiar with a route/combination and its intricacies, but if you're in a part of town you don't know as much, Google Maps' transit routing is a godsend.

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