...Well, it is if you live in Seattle/King County, and Tacoma/Pierce County.

Its been a dream of mine, as I wait patiently (or not so patiently) for the bus at the bus stop, to figure when my freaking bus will come.

I discovered

One Bus Away. True to my frugal roots, I use the SMS system on Net10 phone. No fancy iPhone necessary!

All I do is:
1. Look for the bus stop number. If you are waiting at a shelter, the stop number is in yellow somewhere along on the side at the roof line, usually facing the road. If you are at a stop with no shelter but with a schedule on the post, its in the code of the upper, upper left hand corner. xxx - bus stop number - yyy.
2. Text Onebus bus stop number to 41411.
3. You get a text back with the list of buses and the time expected in minutes.

Its not free. It costs me a nickel/text, but after last week waiting futilely for the express 5, its well worth it. I tried it out and the times were accurate within a minute or two.

The first time you text, it asks you what your zip code is. I think its to keep the Seattle bus stop numbers filtered from the Tacoma ones, etc.