Why Hetku tells you when a time is only from the timetable

Ask people what annoys them about transit apps and you hear the same thing: times that aren’t true. A countdown hits zero, nothing comes, and then it jumps back to eight minutes.

Part of that can’t be fixed by any app. A bus that stops reporting is simply gone from the data. But showing a timetable time as if it were live is a design choice, and we chose not to make it.

In Hetku, a green dot means the time comes from the vehicle. The word "Scheduled" means it comes from the timetable. They look different on purpose, so you can decide whether to run.

The same goes for the map. If live data stops coming, a banner says so. In Tartu, buses placed by the timetable carry a dashed ring. We would rather tell you what we don’t know than guess quietly.