The Sick Transit Chicago blog asks: can good realtime information trump short headways? I suspect that there’s a tipping point for headways—if the bus or train comes every 10-15 minutes (or better), riders can feel comfortable just showing up at the station, confident that they won’t have to wait too long. If the improvements in service wouldn’t improve things to that point, I bet most choice riders would prefer realtime transit information.

There is a social justice angle to this, though—not everyone has easy access to internet-connected computers and mobile devices. Unless the agency can afford lots of estimated arrival displays for shelters, and a voice-based automated system (IVR) for checking arrival estimates, the information will only benefit a subset of the ridership.