Don't get us wrong: we love NextBus, especially the new integration with Google maps. NextBus is the only thing about MUNI that seems to work, and when you consider that it's actually run by a private company and not SF's self-declared transit agency, that isn't much of a surprise. And good news: the Metropolitan Transit Commission just approved an $11 million grant to expand the GPS-based bus-predicting tech to all of MUNI. This will either ease our frustrations by finally making MUNI predictable, or make our head explode when we can see just how systemic the delays are.

Of course, we don't mean to blame the drivers. They do great work, absolutely dynamite. Drivers, you're not worried that NextBus will focus attention on your scheduling inabilities, are you? Hey, if you get too stressed out about it, maybe you should take a sick day. That's what MUNI drivers do best, isn't it?

Update: Michael Smith, NextBus' Director of Engineering, writes,

You will be glad to know that we do more than provide passenger information. We also provide management tools so that transit agencies like Muni can improve their systems and avoid bunching of buses and missed runs. Now that Muni has funding for rolling out the NextBus system to the entire city, it will become an integral part of Muni operations.