Individuals who take public transportation will often use location-based traffic apps like Moovit,  an app that allows users to see real-time location of a bus or train on the user’s mobile phone screens. Apps like these are supposed to improve traffic flow and decrease users’ wait time. The apps give the user an idea about the distance between them and the bus or train through the app on their mobile phones. But for these apps to work, they would need minimum infrastructure, such as buses equipped with GPS and regular maintenance. Without it in places like Rio de Janeiro, the apps are wrong about the locations and deemed useless by the users. What does not help these people is that bus companies are reducing the number of buses and changing routes without proper notice. This was the case of Bus 581 that ran from Cosme Velho to Gāvea, a South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Over a few months in 2018/2019, the fleet of several buses went down to one. This caused passengers to be left waiting for (sometimes) hours at the bus stop. 

This last bus driver decided to create a WhatsApp group to broadcast to potential passengers the real-time location updates of the bus, including departure and arrival times at bus stops. This group chat was not officially related to São Silvestre (the bus company) and didn’t use any kind of location-based service, just text messages to relay location. Potential passengers and drivers sent messages directly to each other to broadcast and inquire about the bus’s actual location. Through word of mouth, this group chat grew, with passengers talking to each other at the stops and to the driver. By connecting directly with the bus, it allowed people to have a better sense of how they would be able to move about in the city.