Passengers in Berlin were left bemused this week when their local public transport app predicted waiting times of 994 minutes.
Berliners with the BVG transport app on their mobile phones were left bewildered this week after being sent a push notification alerting them of “wait times of up to 994 minutes between two journeys”.
Passengers received a follow-up message one minute later, which adjusted the wait time to 1.002 minutes, or 16,7 hours. Wait times became cancellations and the app declared that services on the U9 U-Bahn line were cancelled.
The local transport association quickly attributed the error to an app malfunction. “We’re working to improve the app,” the BVG assured.
The BVG app has been around since 2014 and allows passengers to buy tickets and transport subscriptions, hire taxis, bikes, mopeds or scooters and check the best transport routes.
But according to some, the app cannot complete even the most fundamental tasks. “Tickets kaufen ist absolut unmöglich” (“Buying tickets is entirely impossible”), reads one of the most recent app reviews on the Google Play store. “Does not work. Payment method registration never finishes,” writes another reviewer.
Despite a relaunch in July 2024, the app is plagued with many of the same bugs and illogical features as were found in the previous version, such as asking users to enter their desired destination before their starting point.
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