Super Stop ‘Next Bus’ Display: Accurate?

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) Arlington County has launched an independent review of the $1 million Walter Reed Super Stop on Columbia Pike.

One topic that’s likely to come up during the review: the electronic information board that displays bus arrivals times.

The display is undoubtedly useful, but is it accurate? At least one tipster says no.

“The ‘Next Bus’ information that is posted is often incorrect,” we were told. “You may wish to look into that.”

A brief point-in-time test of bus arrival times, however, showed that the display was actually fairly accurate. Over the course of an hour and a half during an evening rush hour last week, ARLnow.com wrote down predicted bus arrival times and compared it to actual arrival times.

We kept track of 15 buses, noting posted arrival times an average of 25 minutes ahead of the projected arrival. The result: an average variance of just 2 minutes and 40 seconds between projected arrival and actual arrival. The biggest gap between projection and arrival: 9 minutes.

If you catch the bus at the Walter Reed stop, how has your experience been with the electronic display and its bus arrival times?