BC Transit’s NextRide Live Bus Tracking App Set to Launch in Victoria

BC Transit is set to roll out its NextRide live bus tracking web app in Victoria, BC, as final testing comes underway, ahead of the spring 2019 debut.

NextRide is a web app which shows real-time location data on where your next bus is, via Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology installed on select bus routes. Transit riders just need to access the BC Transit website on their smartphone browser to see where their next bus and the expected arrival time at bus stops.

Final testing in Victoria was being shown on routes 4, 8, 30, 39, 70, 81 and 88 would show the location of a single bus on each route, reports the Peninsula News Review.

According to BC Transit, data from live tracking technology will help the Victoria Regional Transit System collect better data to manage schedules and handle accidents, plus inform riders of any delays or detours via push notifications.

NextRide first rolled out in Nanaimo last spring, followed by the Comox Valley, Squamish, Whistler and Kamloops during the summer. Kelowna launched NextRide in November and Victoria’s launch is pegged for spring 2019.



The transit organization so far has only designated these seven cities for NextRide to date. As for other communities? “BC Transit will evaluate and make recommendations as to the feasibility of adding communities moving forward,” states the NextRide website.

NextRide is being funded by the federal government at 50 per cent, while the province’s share is at 33 per cent of costs, with local government paying the rest.

Live tracking of buses in Victoria is likely a welcome feature, as back in 2016, the city only offered a Next Bus SMS feature from BC Transit, which offered estimated arrival times via text message.

Back in December, BC Transit told The Abbotsford News there were no current plans to install free Wi-Fi on bus fleets, like TransLink’s announcement of having Shaw install Wi-Fi across its fleet by 2020.

For those looking for real-time bus tracking through an app on their iPhone, third-party Transit app is hard to beat.