A Low-Cost Way to Improve Transit Service in Every City

The developers of a transit-tracking app have some for exciting news for public officials: There's a way to improve transit rider satisfaction without reducing fares, buying new vehicles or expanding service. Just give your users more information.

1 minute read

January 22, 2014, 2:00 PM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


trax light rail train in foreground, snow-covered mountains in background

vxla / flickr

Emily Badger shares the findings made by Kari Watkins and her colleagues, who developed the popular transit-tracking app OneBusAway and have spent years studying the behaviors and opinions of transit riders. Simply by providing real-time information, Watkins and her colleagues were able to reduce anxiety over when the next bus or train would arrive and improve rider satisfaction. "In fact," notes Badger, "their results (Watkins has now extended this research to other cities) suggest that transit agencies might get a better payoff by telling people when buses will arrive than by making them arrive more often."

"We’d rather have real-time [data] than more frequent service," Watkins says.

"In an era when transit agencies are strapped for cash, this means they could provide better service without literally providing better service," adds Badger. "This also means that they could significantly improve their product by focusing not on the experience of riding the bus (or train), but by thinking more about what happens before we even board it."

Wednesday, January 22, 2014 in The Atlantic Cities

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 30, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Ken Jennings stands in front of Snohomish County Community Transit bus.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series

The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

April 20, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Close-up of white panel at top of school bus with "100% electric" black text.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation

California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

April 30 - California Air Resources Board

Aerial view of Freeway Park cap park over I-5 interstate freeway in Seattle, Washington at night.

Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.

April 30 - Streetsblog USA

"No Thru Traffic - Open Streets Restaurants" sign in New York City during Covid-19 pandemic.

From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street

How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.

April 30 - Next City