Muni Diaries iPhone App Review: Smart Ride

There seems to be no shortage of Muni apps for iPhone. We think that’s a good thing; a little competition should lead to a better product, right? Here to review one of the latest apps is Muni rider Stephanie. Stephanie reviewed Smart Ride, which is free from the iTunes store, by the way. Here’s her take:

As a habitual SF Muni rider for close to 10 years, I have become keen on new Muni iPhone apps. Bottom line, they’re nothing but useful. They save riders time by showing arrival times of any given bus. I recently downloaded Smart Ride, and enjoyed its features. First of all, it’s free. That’s huge to me, because I really only download free apps, no matter how popular they are. I’m sure a lot of Muni riders will appreciate this also.

The user interface is clean and easy to understand. The app asks for permission to locate your current location, and proceeds to bring up a page of nearby stops and their next arrival predictions. Smart Ride also displays the approximate distance (in feet) to each bus stop. This may seem frivolous, but it’s actually pretty interesting to know which stop is technically closer to you!

The app also features a live map and a directory of different public transportation agencies. I found this a positive thing, since it would be useful when traveling in different cities. I particularly like the fact that the directory stays on your chosen agency (SF Muni) even when you are using the other features of this app. I find it frustrating when some apps reset once you veer away from a certain location, and the user is forced to go back through the motions of choosing their preferences again.

From my experience, Smart Ride’s predictions have been accurate, and I have enjoyed using this application. The Favorites feature sets it apart from some Muni apps out there. It allows you to save your frequently used stops, which is extremely helpful when you’re in a rush! Overall, I am pretty pleased with Smart Ride. It covers all the bases, and is quick and easy to understand. Thanks for saving me time, Smart Ride!

Thanks, Stephanie. Now when is the Android app market going to explode? Too much to ask, I know 😉

Previous iPhone app reviews on Muni Diaries:

How Chicago does it


Image by Give a Minute

We’d like to take you on a quick detour to the Windy City. That town’s public transit agency, CTA, has taken to the internet to ask Chicagoans how to improve walking, cycling, and public transportation there. Man, first the Elevated, now this?

The campaign is called Give a Minute. It’s a pretty and well-functioning way for CTA to reach out to its constituency. And Give a Minute is active in Memphis, New York, and San Jose, also. Yes, San Jose. We hope our own SFMTA is taking notice.

And so, to plagiarize, “Hey, San Francisco, what would encourage you to walk, bike, and take Muni more often?

Thx: Daily Dish

Getting Hitched at the Muni Yard

Mooflyrabbit Wedding
Photo by Jessica Palopoli, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.

Eat your heart out, Legion of Honor. There’s a hot new wedding photo spot in town: the Muni yard! We found Heather and Ed’s wedding photos on Flickr (taken by photographer Jessica Palopoli). Here’s what Heather had to say about getting hitched with Muni in the background:

We were supposed to have our wedding out at Fort Miley – near Land’s End – with the Golden Gate Bridge and all that in the background. Then the weather surprised us by raining all day and we had to move our ceremony – and photoshoot – to our reception venue, at the Verdi Club (on Mariposa and Potrero).

In the months leading up to the wedding I had done some thinking about where we would do the photoshoot if the wedding rained out, so I’d mused that we could use the Muni yard, which is a half-block away from the Verdi Club – as a backdrop. It was graphically interesting and very San Francisco! We were lucky enough to have a short break in the deluge, long enough to take a few photos.

The Muni pictures are awesome and definitely showcase our city, even if it’s not in the way I’d originally planned. Oh – and we wanted to actually go in the yard and take photos by the buses, but the security guy at the gate of the yard wouldn’t let us.

I guess we can rest assured that the Muni yard is pretty secure. Thanks, Heather and Ed!

Our band photo
Photo by Jessica Palopoli, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.

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