I guess METRO put the GPS units in the buses for something other than the goofy-assed robot voices and the pointless LED displays scrolling off the stops...
Where's My Bus?Ever wait at the bus stop and wonder when your bus would arrive? In the not too distant future, METRO will be able to answer that age-old question with Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies.
METRO's IT department is planning to develop in the next year the means to connect the bus fleet, stops and shelters to METRO customers in "real-time" by cell phone or handheld device.
Using the Global Positioning System already installed on buses to help manage operations, METRO will be able to forecast the number of minutes before the bus will arrive and deliver that information to customers. In addition, METRO is experimenting with making route and schedule information available as well.
Prototypes were demonstrated to the METRO Board of Directors this month, and given budget approval, these projects will be included in the FY07 budget.
It's about freaking time. Been wondering aloud why this wasn't a part of the GPS package to begin with.
Hopefully they'll start by putting these things in the least frequent routes so folks know if they've just missed that hourly bus by a minute or if the bus is late by a few minutes... or one of them has broken down and it's better to take an alternate route.
Comments (1)
There you go assuming METRO will do something logical, like put GPS notices equipment at the infrequent stops.
Hell, they'll put them on the most used stops (so more people can see the gadgets) or on routes where the buses run so frequently you can see the next bus down the street ('cause there's nothing like having a gadget tell you something your eyes can obviously see and it "shows the system works").
I bet they'll even do it for the Danger Trail, cause it might leave the track the next time it hits a car.
Posted by Ospurt | September 1, 2006 2:31 PM
Posted on September 1, 2006 14:31