Bus tracking applications are in the news, from college campuses to urban transit properties.
Students at Mississippi State University can track the location of buses on the five-route campus shuttle on mobile devices and on the web. “This technology increases the safety and efficiency of the university transit system,” said Jeanette Mitchell-Bailey, special projects coordinator for university transit and parking services. “Drivers now have access to route information, are able to adjust routes as necessary, and directly receive campus emergency notifications for broadcasting Maroon Alert messages.” Link to full story in Metro Magazine.
Last week a group of students at Virginia Tech unveiled the VT Bus Tracker, an application that riders to track the location, speed, and number of passengers on Blacksburg Transit (VA) vehicles. The transit agency paid for the hardware, but the university is hosting the application and covering its operating costs. “Five years ago people came to me and said, ‘It’d be nice if I could access the schedule on the Internet,’ and now my passengers say, ‘Why can’t I access the schedule on my smart phone?’” said Timothy Witten, ITS/special projects manager at Blacksburg Transit. Link to full story in Metro Magazine.
Finally, USA Today published a story summarizing the latest developments in schedule and tracking applications. In Orlando, for example, the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority plans to install a bar code system at bus stops that lets passengers access schedule information with their smart phones. Link to full story in USA Today.
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