What scheduled times mean, and how to use them

Updated 15 October 2026

Every time on My Bus comes from a timetable Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) has published. That makes it a good plan, not a promise. This guide explains what the times can tell you, what they can’t, and how to get the most out of them at the stop.

A schedule, not a sighting

Times are scheduled, not live. My Bus has no link to any bus, driver or GPS device. It cannot see where a bus is, whether it is running late, or whether it has already gone. When a page says a bus is due at 07:10, that is the time in Golden Arrow’s timetable, nothing more.

Traffic, weather, breakdowns and roadworks all move real buses away from the timetable. Cape Town’s peak-hour traffic in particular can make a bus run late, and on quiet roads a bus can be early.

Using scheduled times well

  • Get to the stop a few minutes early. A bus that is running early won’t wait.
  • Know the bus after yours. Every stop page lists each departure and the days it runs, so you know your fallback if you miss one. On routes with few buses, that gap can be long.
  • Board where a time is published. A place marked as one buses only pass has no published time, and the bus may not stop. The page for it lists the nearest stops that do have times.
  • Check the day. Many trips run only on some days, such as Monday to Thursday or Fridays only. The timetable shows which days each bus runs.
  • Look at the arrival time if you are meeting someone. The bus that leaves first does not always arrive first. How to read a Golden Arrow timetable has an example.

Public holidays

Golden Arrow publishes separate public holiday timetables for some routes, and My Bus shows them on their own tab. The app does not know which dates are public holidays, so on a holiday it shows the normal timetable for that day of the week. If today is a public holiday, open the public holidays tab on your route.

When a timetable changes

Each timetable takes effect on a set date, and some have an end date too, often for a short-term change. Every timetable page on My Bus lists the timetables its times come from, with those dates. When a timetable passes its end date before a replacement has been added, the page says it has expired and stops presenting its times as current. Golden Arrow’s own published timetable is always the final word.

Don’t see your route at all? Check which routes are covered and ask for yours.

When the times are wrong

If the times on a page don’t match the published timetable or what happens at your stop, tell us with the “These times look wrong?” link on that page, or send feedback. A confirmed mistake is corrected from the published document. We never patch in a time that GABS hasn’t published.

Who runs this

My Bus is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by Golden Arrow Bus Services. More about the app.