NJ Bus Time

Introduction

 

 I wrote this app because I wanted to be able to glance at my Apple Watch and see when my buses were coming while walking to the bus stop. If you ride the NJ Transit bus in New Jersey, this simple app will let you see when your bus will arrive on your iPhone/iPad or Apple Watch. 

 

Just add a stop to your list of Bus Stops by entering the number from the sign near each bus stop. You can optionally add your favorite bus route(s) and see only those buses you care about.

 

I have plans to continue to enhance this app, such as by adding a map for locating nearby bus stops without having to enter the number manually.

I welcome suggestions and questions via email at iosapp@renderedspeechless.com and I will respond as quickly as I can.

 

Getting Started

The first thing you should do is to open the app on your iPhone. When you first load the app it pre-populates the Port Authority Bus Terminal outbound stop, number 26229. The other stops you use you will have to add manually. You can get the stop number from the sign, and name the stops anything you want. They are stored on your device.  If you delete all the stops from the app, the default stop will reappear.

 

The second thing you should do is to click the bookmark icon to set your favorite routes. Just enter the numeric portion of the route (such as 113 for the 113X or 113N) and a switch will appear in the bus list allowing you to show all routes or only your favorites. By default, the switch will be on if buses are coming that are on your favorite routes list, and off if there are none.

 

The bus list will show the destination, status, time remaining as calculated by NJ Transit, and the vehicle number in parentheses. 

 

Instructions for Use

 

·       To add an item to either list, tap the plus sign at the top of the list.

·       To search nearby bus stops on a map, click the magnifying glass icon at the top of the stop list. This will download the latest stop data if you haven’t downloaded in the last few days. There is a search box at the top of this page that lets you search the stops visible on the map by name.

·       To edit or delete a list item, swipe left to expose Edit and Delete buttons, if applicable.

·       To show only Favorite routes, activate the switch. To show buses from all routes, deactivate the switch. If the switch doesn’t appear, you have not configured any Favorite routes.

·       To configure Favorite Routes, tap the bookmarks icon at the top of the screen.

·       To refresh the bus list, pull down to refresh. This will only work if at least 30 seconds has elapsed since your last refresh.

 

Using on your Apple Watch

The Apple Watch extension is a read-only app that allows you to see the upcoming buses for each stop you have configured on the iPhone app. In order to receive this configuration, the iPhone must be paired with the watch, and able to communicate with it successfully. Once the watch app receives the configuration from your iPhone, it will then fetch the upcoming buses via any available network connection (WiFi, LTE - if your watch is an LTE model, or through the iPhone connection).

 

Instructions for Use

 

·       If you see the message to “Setup App on iPhone” and it doesn’t go away, either the Watch cannot communicate with the iPhone, or you have no stops Configured on the iPhone app.

·       To switch between bus stops, swipe left and right. The stop name will appear at the top of the screen once it finishes loading.

·       To refresh the bus list, pull down to refresh. This will only work if at least 30 seconds has elapsed since your last refresh.

·       To show only Favorite routes, activate the switch. To show buses from all routes, deactivate the switch. If the switch doesn’t appear, you have not configured any Favorite routes.

 

Copyright 2018, Douglas Freeman