When there's something strange on your TransitTracker, who ya gonna call?

Don't call TriMet. The agency says it has finally figured out how to scare off the "ghost buses" that never arrive, even though the real-time tracking service shows them running on time on your computer or smartphone.

Sometimes, because of traffic jams, breakdowns, emergencies and other situations, a bus trip or part of a trip needs to be canceled. Because of limitations in its software, however, TransitTracker shows the bus still making stops, TriMet said.

"Thanks to a feature in the agency's new bus radio dispatch system, TransitTracker will finally be able to tell riders when a bus is not coming," said Roberta Altstadt, a TriMet spokeswoman.

Beginning Monday, TransitTracker will show when a bus is canceled.

From TriMet:

Previously, when a bus was canceled, TransitTracker would simply give a "scheduled at" time (such as "2:45 p.m.") instead of a countdown.

Other times, the countdown would go all the way down to "Due" but the bus would never come. Many riders refer to this phenomenon as "ghost buses" because the buses just seem to vanish.

Our new bus radio/dispatch system now gives TriMet the technology to automatically send information to TransitTracker when a bus trip is canceled, eliminating most "ghost buses." We say 'most' because there may be instances when a bus is not officially canceled in the system. There may also be times a bus does show up even though TransitTracker says it's canceled. This could be due to an extra bus sent to fill the remainder of a route.

"This will help our bus riders make more informed travel decisions and is just one of the many improvements we're making to better our customers' experience," said TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane. "We are taking steps to enhance our communication with riders, using the latest technology to simplify paying fares, and we are dedicated to putting more service on the streets. "

This is the first phase of improvements to the reliability of the real-time information supplied through TransitTracker, and future upgrades should make it even better.

, we came, we saw, we got on a bus.

OK. OK. Let's do what has to be done:

-- Joseph Rose