Chapel Hill and NextBus

[romec]

I hadn't seen this before and its new to the Triangle, so I thought I'd share. Basically there is a service called NextBus which puts GPS systems in buses and then tracks them online. It allows you to take a look at a route and determine where the bus is currently, and how long until it arrives at your stop. I think there may also be plans to put kiosks is certain select bus stops which display buses and times.

Currently the only Triangle system on-board is Chapel Hill and my understanding is that it was paid for mostly with federal money. I'd love to see Raleigh and Durham get on board with something like this, because it at least increases the public's awareness about mass transit.

Here's a link to Chapel Hill's bus lines

Chapel Hill's NU route

[RaleighRob]

That's an awesome idea. Takes out some of the guesswork.

[MR-2]

The major stops in Chapel Hill have schedules, but the buses tend to get late for those schedules as the day drags on. This would be an excellent fix.

[danclever]

The other thing for the 3 cities to consider is traffic signal preemption/override, at least with key routes. Then you you have the beginning of a BRT system.

[orulz]

NCSU has their own system for the Wolfline that has been in operation for over a year. It covers all buses and all routes. I believe this project grew out of a project by somebody at the school, and the company that wrote the program is based at Centennial Campus.

http://ncsu.transloc-inc.com/

[JDC]

NCSU has their own system for the Wolfline that has been in operation for over a year. It covers all buses and all routes. I believe this project grew out of a project by somebody at the school, and the company that wrote the program is based at Centennial Campus.

http://ncsu.transloc-inc.com/

It's quite handy having such educated scholars and computer scientists in such close proximity, isn't it? I doubt this kind of program could have been spawned in many other cities.

[ncwebguy]

I heard about the NC State system on WKNC a few months ago but never checked it out. The java version is overkill, but the text version is great in its simplicity.

TTA and/or other systems should look into this, both as a service to their customers and as an analytical tool for schedules vs. reality. It will probably never happen because it will show how drivers ignore time points, etc.

[orulz]

The java version is overkill, but the text version is great in its simplicity.

The Java version is maybe a bit overdone, and could do with some improvements in the usability department, but it does show a lot of useful information, such as the location of every stop along each route.

The graphical mobile edition is really nifty:

http://ncsu.transloc-inc.com/m/

I agree that, of all the transit systems in the Triangle, TTA needs a bus locator more than anyone else, as their buses are more susceptible to traffic than anyone else's. The latest schedules are a bit better about that than previous ones, but I've still gotten to a bus stop 5 minutes early, only to have to wait 20 minutes for the bus to actually get there quite a few times.

[thewhister]

I heard about the NC State system on WKNC a few months ago but never checked it out. The java version is overkill, but the text version is great in its simplicity.

TTA and/or other systems should look into this, both as a service to their customers and as an analytical tool for schedules vs. reality. It will probably never happen because it will show how drivers ignore time points, etc.

Yeah, this would be a great service to have. Would definitely plan your wait for the bus a lot easier if you are leaving your office. A TTA driver shared with me that they used to have a GPS system on their buses to keep track of their buses and its location and time points. They told me that their is a DOT fine for not keeping to their schedule - they said that this is from riders calling in and filing a complaint with DOT and apparently the fines are pretty hefty for the already cash-strapped systems. So their GPS systems are broken.

Take this information for what it is worth.