This MTA website gives real-time GPS location of all active buses

For all this city’s transit strengths, buses in Brooklyn don’t always have the best reputation. This reporter missed the pre-event hangout and chat session at TEDxGowanus because of a bus that just never actually came — schedules be damned.

That uncertainty that always seems to be more acute for bus riders than those on light rail or subways will now be somewhat mitigated in New York. We previously gave NYC a jab for letting Long Island beat us to this point. But now, all MTA buses are reporting in to a central GPS system every 30 seconds, and riders can check in on buses coming to their stop using this website.

No smartphone? Text the stopcode posted at your bus stop, or the intersection, with the route number at the end, to 511123. Instructions here.

The MTA will also be using this data to assess its schedules, according to Crain’s.