THE ACTUAL STORY -- The MTA Removes Countdown Clocks on the Crosstown Line

Staten Island bus rider Regina Esposito uses Bus Time.

We were fooled. The MTA has had real time bus information on the M 34 since 2010.  So when we wrote, per the MTA's  press release, that Manhattan's M-34 is the latest bus route to get Bustime, the MTA's real time bus information system, that wasn't accurate.

What's new is that as of this week the MTA will have a new operating system, which means its countdown clocks won't work.  From the customer perspective the only difference is there won't be LED's at the bus stops saying when the next buses are coming, which seems like a net loss to the customers.

Our sharp-eyed colleague, editor Matthew Schuerman, caught the double-speak.

MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said the authority didn't mean to mislead. "The system that was in place before was proprietary technology," Lisberg said. "It would have cost more.  We want to do it in the cheapest way possible."

@NYCTSubwayScoop tweeted at us: "That was a pilot system run by Clever Devices.  MTA Bus Time is a open source platform and we're not beholden to a vendor," adding in a second tweet: "the displays were the property of the vendor, not NYC Transit."

Let us say, we get that.  We've been close followers of Bustime.  But when we read the press release -- it led us to believe that a new service was arriving on 34th street.

Transportation Nation apologizes to our readers for letting this one get by us. (We weren't the only ones -- New York 1, ABC Local were among the other media outlets who were confused.)

Bustime has helped riders in Staten Island and Brooklyn navigate the transit system.

It allows users to check where buses are on their desktops, or to text a stop code to the MTA at 511123, and receive a text back saying how many stops away the buses are.

The service allows users who are shopping or at work to check the arrival time of the next buses without being at the top.

Bustime has been on the B-63 bus in Brooklyn for over a year, and in Staten Island for several months.   The Bronx is scheduled to get Bustime later this year, with Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan to be phased in.

The American Public Transportation Association has linked real time transportation information to increased transit use.

For a list of stop codes go to http://www.bustime.mta.info