Good Idea! This assumes that the GPS info is radioed back to the base station periodically. The base station computer could then be programmed with your cell phone number, the bus, the stops where you normally transfer and the different times of day, for each day of the week. That way no one needs a special piece of equipment nor a computer. Just sign up with the bus company for that service. You wouldn't even need to answer the phone so there wouldn't be any charges to the cell phone. It rings, you recognize who is calling and silence the phone. If you enter the name of the bus company, your cell phone would display their name instead of a number. Another more advanced function would be to accept text messages from the bus company. The text message would tell you the bus number, the stop, and the number of minutes to arrive. This could be sent to a cell phone and/or a pager. Obviously the bus company could not be held liable for incorrect information because the cell phone sometimes drops calls. Then if you are worried you might have missed a late bus, you could call the automated dispatcher and your cell phone number would trigger an automated response and send you the current position of the bus and the number of minutes to your station. So if you missed your bus, it would tell you when the next one is to arrive. This same system could be expanded to allow you to key in where you want to go, where you are, and their system could automatically route you on the correct buses to get you to where you want to go. This wouldn't be that complex of a system. All the gear already exists and various programs already use pieces of what is proposed.

Everyone's cell phone currently has a GPS built into it, so the base station could potentially automatically acquire your location for various functions of the system.

I like this one. Don't see any reason not to move forward with it. Good idea!

Here in Helsinki, Finland, the vast bus system is precise enough for the issuance of prnted bus schedules for each stop which are accurate to within 5 minutes. It saves a good deal of grief and if it can work in Helsinki it can work anywhere where people care

Anything that would have to address you (cell phone, email, SMS) is impractical, unless it is a paid service perhaps.

If anything, the bus could report its position back to a central server, over a wide area wireless network. and some applet on your phone relay that informatino for buses near you, based on your GPS location or other data.

I think this is a great idea - especially in cities like mine where traffic flows are unpredictable due to road-works, traffic accidents, etc. It is also something that I think people would pay for. I doubt the technicalities would be too difficult to solve.