A new, free app for smartphones and home computers helps Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) riders locate and bookmark nearby bus stops, track bus whereabouts in real time, and set up a heads-up email or text notification of bus arrival. “The major feature allows you to get real-time information about where your bus is,” said Hillary Blackerby, MTD’s marketing and community relations manager. “We had 1,500 downloads in the first week.” MTD has also set up a simple tracking system for any phone with a texting feature: For example, by texting “SBMTD 1” to 41411, the user will receive real-time information on the next buses coming to MTD’s bus stop number one, located at Modoc and Portesuello on Santa Barbara’s Westside. A complete numbering of MTD’s 700+ bus stops is available online and on printed schedule guides. Also, MTD is currently installing numbers and texting instructions at bus stops. The BusTracker smartphone application is available in the Apple App Store for Apple devices and the Google Play Store for Android devices. For more information, visit bustracker.sbmtd.gov.