| Arizona encourages transit by adding GPS to busses. |
| by Roxanne McManus on February 24, 2010 958 views
Email-A-Friend |
 Two main goals of most city transit systems are: to offer low cost transportation, and promote greener methods of travel. Major concerns for people who are wavering on their decision to take public transportation include reliability and efficiency.
Arizona's Sun Tran is unveiling a new internet tracking system designed to promote both reliability and efficiency. All of the busses will be equipped with GPS tracking devices that post their current position to the Sun Tran website every 30 seconds. If there is a delay users will be aware before leaving their house or workplace. Depending on the delay, riders can decide to wait for the next bus or make alternate arrangements for traveling.
Using Virtual Earth or Google Earth users can track bus movements throughout the system. This will allow users to check the exact arrival and departure times for each stop along their desired route.
Future plans include expanding the service to mobile devices. Riders will be able to subscribe to SMS messages, via text or email, that notify of delays or changes to the bus schedules. User feedback is completely positive, and the city council hopes to keep these changes coming, to promote transit to a larger percentage of the population.
|
|
|
|
