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Metro Bus

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

NextBus App Returns with New Name: iCommute DC

The popular smart phone app for tracking the Metrobus system is back after going dark in December.

Nextbus DC went dark in December, but now it is back with a new name—iCommute DC—and a few additional features, like a nearby stops map, according to DCist. As Patch previously reported, NextBus DC stopped working in December in part because of contractual issues between the two companies that supported the app. In the app's absence, a few new options have emerged, including BusTrack DC, which Patch reported on in February. BusTrack uses GPS data from WMATA to provide real time predictions of bus schedules.  As DCist reports the iCommute DC app also uses GPS data: "The new program is functionally and visually similar to the old NextBus DC, with GPS-assisted lookups of the nearest bus stops, estimated arrival times of buses, and the ability…

Friday, February 22, 2013

Speak Out: Customer Service and Metro Bus Drivers

New training course was developed by Metro and is taught by a 20-year veteran bus driver.

Metro hopes to put all 2,500 of its bus drivers through a revamped customer service training by the end of 2014, The Washington Post reports. While all drivers receive a customer service training when they first begin with Metro, the new training serves as a refresher course. Since the new training begin in October, 600 drivers have taken the course, which is taught by supervisor and trainer Roger Langston — a bus driver of 20 years, the Post reports. The training is partially a response to recent violence against bus drivers—like rock throwing and a stabbing. It is also meant to reduce the number of complaints the agency has received about bus drivers — more than 7,500 complaints over four years, according to the Post. What do you think? …

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