http://www.nextbus.com/googleMap/test.jsp?a=sf-muni&r=31

Most buslines aren't on the system yet; if you enter a line that isn't wired, then the "Initializing Agency" message simply stays up for ever. And the actual how-long-do-I-have-to-wait page, the one that gives you time estimates, uses some fancy javascript that makes it impossible to produce arrival estimates without knowing the names that NextBus has assigned to stops and terminals. Maybe some more enterprising hacker out there can help open up that information -- but Lord, we love NextBus for helping to get the taste of MUNI out of our mouths. This is the most exciting internet leak since those stills from the set of .

We're glad that this hack works for the NextBus Google maps -- those maps seem to operate on more browsers than their DisplayApplet.class one. But when do we get LED displays in all the bus stops? We think that this information might be of use to people who are, y'know, actually waiting for a bus. And what would be even cooler is tech that could help you plan your transfers as you ride -- like, as you're riding the 38 inbound, the display tells you how long you'll have to wait for a Fillmore bus northbound versus a Van Ness one, so you know at which stop to get off. But now we're just being giddy and wild-eyed; every improvement to SF's abyssmal transit, even a secret hackers-only one, is a huge gift to humankind.

Maid in Manhattan