app for bus times

[stephicakes]

So I just found out about the app DPart that supposedly gives an “approximate time when the next bus is arriving at park, resort, or Downtown Disney to take you to your destination”.

Does anyone have any experience with this app? How accurate is this while in the park waiting for a bus? Or does this just give you a general bus schedule? Feedback appreciated!



Thanks peeps!
steph

[kakn7294]

I've never heard of it but it sounds cool if it's accurate. I heard Disney was supposed to eventually add this to the MDE app.

[stephicakes]

I got it so I'll give it a try in Jan! It sounds as if it relies on people at the stops to put in the current bus info to help others know when the next bus may be coming (Ex: which bus was just there). If nothing else, it will give me something to do while waiting for a bus

[WDWdriver]

An app like this is needed, but this one seems to be rather primitive and unlikely to predict accurate bus arrival times.

The problem with the bus schedules at WDW is that there aren't any published schedules - not for the guests, or the drivers, or the transportation managers. There wasn't a published schedule when I was driving Disney buses years ago, and there still isn't as far as I know.

The system relies on anticipated and actual need for bus pickups at the many stops, and the need changes day to day and minute to minute. A bus route in a major US city can be 15 or 20 miles long, making it possible to schedule bus arrival and departure times for a single bus along each route. That is not the case at WDW. Buses run circular routes as quickly and efficiently as possible with several buses on the same route and without much regard to timing. Managers try to have enough buses on any given route for arrivals along the way to occur every 20 minutes or so. But route times can vary widely based on traffic conditions, number of passengers on/off and delays due to loading wheelchairs.

So for an app to provide accurate bus arrival times at any given location is a real long shot. That may change as Disney buses become equipped with GPS technology, allowing real-time bus locations and routes to be fed to the app. But we aren't there yet.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

An app like this is needed, but this one seems to be rather primitive and unlikely to predict accurate bus arrival times.

The problem with the bus schedules at WDW is that there aren't any published schedules - not for the guests, or the drivers, or the transportation managers. There wasn't a published schedule when I was driving Disney buses years ago, and there still isn't as far as I know.

The system relies on anticipated and actual need for bus pickups at the many stops, and the need changes day to day and minute to minute. A bus route in a major US city can be 15 or 20 miles long, making it possible to schedule bus arrival and departure times for a single bus along each route. That is not the case at WDW. Buses run circular routes as quickly and efficiently as possible with several buses on the same route and without much regard to timing. Managers try to have enough buses on any given route for arrivals along the way to occur every 20 minutes or so. But route times can vary widely based on traffic conditions, number of passengers on/off and delays due to loading wheelchairs.

So for an app to provide accurate bus arrival times at any given location is a real long shot. That may change as Disney buses become equipped with GPS technology, allowing real-time bus locations and routes to be fed to the app. But we aren't there yet.

Thank you for that explanation I had always assumed WDW had GPS and wondered why they didn't have digital signs displaying upcoming buses and expected wait times. Also surprised to find out that they don't have some regular routes, with drivers on standby to pickup where needed. I would hate to be the dispatcher for the mess they must have daily, it must be very stressful.