With the installation of new technology on the Connective Corridor bus, students may avoid waiting outside for long periods of time in the cold.

The Centro transportation organization will be launching a GPS pilot program this month. The program will allow riders to view interactive maps of 20 buses online, as well as real-time updates of the next bus’ arrival on its website and at some bus stops, according to a press release on the Connective Corridor website.

The website will allow riders to input their current location and where they are headed. Riders will be able to track their bus by the minute.

There are 15 LED display systems located at bus stops on the Syracuse University campus and in the downtown area that will provide a countdown until the next bus arrives, according to the press release. 

The LED screens currently tell users the date and time at the College Place bus stop on campus, but they do not announce when buses will be arriving. When buses do arrive, riders are greeted with the route number and destination of the bus. 

The pilot program will last for 18 months, and once the program is established, the system will expand to every route, according to the press release. The program will start with the Connective Corridor but has the ability to expand to the entire system, which serves about 40,000 people per day, said Joe DeGray, Centro’s vice president of operations, in the release.

This round of updates cost about $2.25 million, according to the press release. The money is being funded through the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act grant money that Centro received.

In addition to being able to check the status of buses online and at certain bus stops, a group of SU volunteers have been working since October to launch an application on the iPhone to help riders track buses. The app, called ‘USE,’ is set to be launched in February and will tie into Centro’s GPS infrastructure and display the buses in real time on the screen. 

Keisuke Inoue, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Information Studies, has been involved in working on this project since its inception last March. 

‘My estimate is that the app will launch in the end of February or early March,’ he said. 

Once the first app, which will track the locations of the buses, is launched, Inoue will begin working on updates to the app. Updates will include the ability to check into social networking websites, such as Foursquare, and have event listings for places on the Connective Corridor.

‘We want to do the upgrades because that’s what the Connective Corridor is about. It’s supposed to be about the arts and cultural events and bring a revitalization of the community,’ Inoue said. ‘We’d like to encourage people to spend time in that area and utilize the buses.’

Inoue said the timing of future updates to the app may vary, but an update would ideally be launched only a few months after the basic bus-tracking app launch. 

Robbi Farschman, the director of the Connective Corridor, said in the press release that she hopes the updates to the system will make the buses a more convenient means of transportation. She said she hopes the Centro developments would keep students from using the excuse of not knowing when the bus is coming.

medelane@syr.edu

Published on January 19, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani