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BusWatch by Text

BusWatch can give you estimated arrival times via text message, which works on most mobile phones.

Get information online in advance of your trip or find information on how to text at any posted bus stop!

Getting information in advance

It's easy as 1-2-3:

  1. Find your bus stop id.

    Bus stop ids can be found when looking up arrival times or by hovering over your stop on the map.

  2. Text rtabus [stopID] to 41411

    Be sure to text the word "rtabus," a space, and then the actual stop ID number, such as "rtabus 3513" (without quotes).

  3. Receive estimated arrival times.

    You will receive a text with the arrival times for the next few buses.

Important note: Standard carrier charges for text messaging may apply. Check with your mobile carrier first.

At the bus stop

Information about how to text for estimated arrival times from BusWatch will appear on all posted RTA bus stops.

Example

Here's how the text message you send might look if you were going to catch Route 1 at Galleria at Tyler heading east (which stops at stop ID 3513). The bus stop sign at the stop will say to "Text rtabus 3513 to 41411 for estimated arrival times."

Try it!

Send rtabus 3513 to 41411

After your message is received, you'll get a message like this:


estimated arrival times estimated arrival times

Additional Commands

Also, you can reply to this message with "S" to get any service bulletins that may affect your trip (customer alerts), or "R" to get the latest, most updated result for the same stop.

If your stop has multiple routes serving it, your results may not fit in one text message. In that case, you can also reply with "N" to see the next result for the stop you requested.

If you have subscribed to receive text messages for service alerts or arrivals at scheduled times from the RTA BusWatch website, you can always reply with (or send a new text with) "STOP" to unsubscribe.

(Remember: Message and data rates may apply. Check with your mobile carrier first.)

Narrowing your results

To get just the routes you're interested in (and potentially reduce the number of texts you need to send or receive to get the information you want), you can also specify a route number in your request. Add "rt[#]" (with the route number instead of the number sign) to your request.

For Example:
rtabus 3513 rt1

Instead of getting all results for buses predicted to arrive at stop 3513 (Galleria at Tyler), you'll only get results for buses on Route 1.

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