A MAN has shared his ingenious solution to waiting for potentially delayed buses, installing a replica departure screen of his local bus stop in his home.
The unnamed bloke from Bristol posted a video of his purchase to social media yesterday and has since sparked discussion among commuters.
The screen reportedly cost him £299 and shows real-time bus departures and delays without him needing to leave the house or check his phone.
He purchased it from a local company which specialises in making replica screens for public transport networks across the UK.
The screen is connected to a bus tracking app for a specific stop, which is shown at the bottom along with the time.
The man pays a subscription fee, so it shows upcoming departures, with the destination and how long the wait is.
He has programmed it to highlight destinations in green when buses are due, and red when they are late.
Every 10 minutes, it also shows a ticker of weather and news headlines along the bottom ensuring the man is well up to date.
He purchased the screen from Bristol-based company UK Departure Boards, which makes replica departure boards for several UK rail, bus, tram and underground networks.
The clip shows the screen cycling through the upcoming departures for a bus stop near his home in the city.
It was shared to social media yesterday with the caption: “Live bus departure screen in my home, now I can see if my bus will show before I leave.
“Yes, I know there [is] an app, yes, I would rather spend 300 quid buying my own screen. It also does train stations, tube stations and can be any colour.
“They are also made in Bristol. Not my local stop shown for privacy reasons.”
It has since received over 890 likes and more than 70 comments from Brits left intrigued by the bloke’s purchase.
One wrote: “I want one of these so badly. I must resist. It’s not as if I take the bus very often.”
Another commented: “I always think some of the pubs in the [city] centre should have this, especially the White Lion.”
A third joked: “I honestly would have commended the original poster if they had stolen it. Not like they’re very reliable.”
A fourth said: “I thought about it and realised that even when it’s says “due” the bus still doesn’t show up.”
Another agreed: “Only problem is it will show you the famous ghost buses which can be not only a bit disconcerting but also bloody annoying.”
