I'm really, really interested in having real-time bus data here in New Castle County. Anxious even. This is the one thing mentioned in the SSTI transit report that I think should be rolled out as soon as possible. This kind of data is already available to riders in some metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, Washington DC, and San Francisco. The system tracks buses using a combination of GPS (global positioning system), AVL (automatic vehicle locator), and smart phone technologies. It then allow riders with said smart phones to check on the location and estimated arrival times of the buses they want to ride.
If you want to learn more about this system, go to Nextbus.com and have a look. And here's an interesting surprise: DART is listed! Click on the "Select Your Transit System" button on the right, scroll down to Delaware, and you will find DART. Only Routes 201-208 are shown, and they don't appear to be active yet. Could they be getting ready to roll these out for the summer tourist season?
According to what I've read, using a smart phone you go to the NextBus website for your transit system, click on your route and your stop, and then get information about the next buses serving that stop. The screen shot example to the right also appears to give information about other bus routes serving your stop, which can sometimes be very useful.
Another way this can work is by selecting your route and then clicking on a map. I selected Route 201 and then clicked on the Google Map (because it's what works on my Blackberry). The map shows the route and bus stops. I clicked randomly on a stop, and here's an example of what we'll be seeing, except that there should also be a real-time prediction of the next bus arrival times at the stop I chose.
This is just so cool! So if the bus is running late, or early, I can know and be ready. I've read that on some systems, smart phone users can actually see the bus moving along its route on the map on their phones. Also, I see from the NextBus website that a variety of other ways to access information are available, including text messages and information from an automated phone system. I don't know what features we'll eventually have here in Delaware. One nice thing: there are no direct charges to users of the website. I'd imagine, however, that the site is funded by the various transit systems.
I think a system like this, rolled out for the whole state, would go a long way towards increasing ease and satisfaction of use for DART riders. The most frequent complaints I hear, from both riders and non-riders, is the problem of missing buses because they run early or late, and especially the delay and anguish this causes when a bus is missed when trying to make a transfer on a long trip. This is one of the primary worries cited by non-riders I've met as reason they don't consider riding the bus.
For a lot of reasons, DART buses are unlikely to be reliably on time in the near future. But having this kind of real-time information will make it much easier for riders to plan trips and make quick changes in plan when conditions dictate. This will certainly makes riders trips quicker and lives easier. Importantly, this will also give them a feeling of greater control. Riders who transition from cars to transit definitely suffer from a feeling of helplessness, of loss of the control they felt when they used their own car. Real-time transit information will, I think, restore some of that feeling of control, and make transit use more attractive to a greater number of people.
Another thing I realized is that this service will be wonderful for people with vision or mobility problems. Identifying and making your way to your bus at crowded stops, where a lot of buses arrive in quick succession, can be difficult for even marginally handicapped folks. Knowing where your bus is and how soon it will arrive will be very, very helpful to this category of rider.
My understanding is that DART already has GPS-based AVL on some or all of its buses. So let's hope they are able to roll out this system state-wide sooner rather than later.
Another way this can work is by selecting your route and then clicking on a map. I selected Route 201 and then clicked on the Google Map (because it's what works on my Blackberry). The map shows the route and bus stops. I clicked randomly on a stop, and here's an example of what we'll be seeing, except that there should also be a real-time prediction of the next bus arrival times at the stop I chose.
This is just so cool! So if the bus is running late, or early, I can know and be ready. I've read that on some systems, smart phone users can actually see the bus moving along its route on the map on their phones. Also, I see from the NextBus website that a variety of other ways to access information are available, including text messages and information from an automated phone system. I don't know what features we'll eventually have here in Delaware. One nice thing: there are no direct charges to users of the website. I'd imagine, however, that the site is funded by the various transit systems.
I think a system like this, rolled out for the whole state, would go a long way towards increasing ease and satisfaction of use for DART riders. The most frequent complaints I hear, from both riders and non-riders, is the problem of missing buses because they run early or late, and especially the delay and anguish this causes when a bus is missed when trying to make a transfer on a long trip. This is one of the primary worries cited by non-riders I've met as reason they don't consider riding the bus.
For a lot of reasons, DART buses are unlikely to be reliably on time in the near future. But having this kind of real-time information will make it much easier for riders to plan trips and make quick changes in plan when conditions dictate. This will certainly makes riders trips quicker and lives easier. Importantly, this will also give them a feeling of greater control. Riders who transition from cars to transit definitely suffer from a feeling of helplessness, of loss of the control they felt when they used their own car. Real-time transit information will, I think, restore some of that feeling of control, and make transit use more attractive to a greater number of people.
Another thing I realized is that this service will be wonderful for people with vision or mobility problems. Identifying and making your way to your bus at crowded stops, where a lot of buses arrive in quick succession, can be difficult for even marginally handicapped folks. Knowing where your bus is and how soon it will arrive will be very, very helpful to this category of rider.
My understanding is that DART already has GPS-based AVL on some or all of its buses. So let's hope they are able to roll out this system state-wide sooner rather than later.
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