Passenger FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions from users of TrackABus. If your question hasn’t been asked yet, contact us with your question.
TrackABus is available on any Internet-enabled smartphone via the TrackABus or TrackABus for Mobile web sites or via SMS text message on any cell phone. Full iPhone and Android applications are under development and may be available already in your region.
Smartphone Instructions: To use it via smartphone, visit your regions TrackABus site in your phone’s browser (e.g. for Dunedin use http://www.trackabus.co.nz/dunedin). You can then either search for ‘Nearby Stops’ or ‘Nearby Routes’ or use one of the quick links to show a particular route. You can also select the ‘Desktop Site’ link if you wish to view the live map on your mobile device.
SMS Instructions: To use via an SMS text the stop number preceeded by your region’s short code to 400 (e.g. in Dunedin you could send ‘DUN 59000952’ to number 400). At present the signage at the stops may not have been updated, but you can find the stop code you require by clicking on a stop on the main TrackABus map. A small fee applies for SMS information requests
The TrackABus system gets information from each bus approximately every 10-15 seconds, so please don’t wait until the last second to go to your stop.
Due to varying traffic conditions and passenger numbers, predicting the exact time a bus will arrive at a stop is difficult. The most reliable indicator is what we do know for sure – where the bus is now. The time estimate is based on the expected time to travel this distance under normal conditions.
The most likely cause of this problem is that the GPS or wireless communications hardware on the bus needs to be repaired (at this time a bus is not kept out of service if is working other than the tracking hardware). We aim to repair the hardware as quickly as possible, but these repairs may take a day or two.
Of course, the hardware may be working fine and you may have experienced some other bug in the TrackABus system. In any case, it helps us to hear from you about this type of problem, so please let us know about your experience using the TrackABus system.
Yes. Simply bookmark the page on which you have found information for your stop. From either the desktop or mobile sites, just click the stop you are interested in and bookmark as you would any other site. The bookmark saved for this page will bring you back to this stop.
Please see the About page.
To report any issues using TrackABus please Contact Us.
At present the TrackABus SMS service costs 20 cents per text.
We are actively investigating options to lower or remove this cost in the future. But remember, it is of course free to use TrackABus through the web interfaces.
