Cambridge teen creates bus app with ETA alerts

Nathaniel Woodthorpe admits he has missed his bus a few times.

So the 19-year-old Cambridge resident, who just finished his first year of computer science at the University of Waterloo, did what any bright, tech mind would do.

He created an app.

Woodthorpe developed BusStop, which sends push notifications to your Android device's screen to let you know the estimated time of arrival for your Grand River Transit bus using live times. This means if a bus is delayed or early, riders will now be simply looking down at their phones.

EasyGo too slow

Like many other GRT riders, Woodthorpe has been using the transit system's EasyGo app.

He said it "is a good app," but there's one major issue.

"Anybody else who uses EasyGo will agree with me that it's very, very slow. Sometimes it might take 20, 30 seconds, a minute, to load your ETA, which isn't bad, but when you're using it every single day, multiple times a day, it starts to add up," he said.

"Now instead of having to wait that minute every time, it's a finger-swipe away."

'Surprised it hasn't been done before'

Woodthorpe is using information the GRT already provides, but in a more convenient way for riders.

Some of the routes were a bit confusing – "I still don't understand what Route 7 is doing, but we got it added," he said – but he hopes the app will help other riders get to their bus on time.

The up-and-coming developer agreed it was unusual the app didn't already exist in Waterloo region.

"This is a very tech-based city, especially Waterloo. I'm a bit surprised it hasn't been done before," he said.

iPhone version coming

The app is free. It is only available for Android at the moment, but he is working with a friend to have a version ready for the iPhone in the near future.

It is still in beta testing, so Woodthorpe asked those who download it and have feedback, to be kind.

"My main focus is just to get my apps out there, get users and see how I can improve," he said.