Staten Island Gets GPS Bus Information Technology

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Now Staten Island commuters can use their phones to find out when the bus will arrive. MTA Bus Time is a GPS system that locates buses along a route, street intersection or bus stop. Users enter a code and Bus Time responds with a text revealing the location. The project was developed by the MTA with help from electrical engineering students from City College and Columbia University.

MTA, spokesperson Aaron Donovan said they hoped to equip all buses with the locational technology by the end of 2013. Bus Time is designed to be the equivalent of the countdown clocks on subway platforms. The New York Times reported that some customers had difficulty getting information. Even when tests showed the accurate location, unpredictable traffic patterns made it difficult to know how long it would take a bus to arrive.

One customer, who said he uses Bus Time during bad weather, told the Times, “The MTA is finally coming into the 18^th century.”

The New York Times