On the crosstown M16 and M34, the MTA has been testing a pilot program providing real-time bus info using GPS technology and proprietary software developed by a company called Clever Devices. But as Second Avenue Sagas notes, the project has proved economically unfeasible, in large part because Clever Devices retained ownership and control over the data flow. As an alternative, the MTA is now rolling out a new pilot using non-proprietary open-source software developed by OpenPlans (the non-profit behind Streetsblog). It debuts today on the B63, and the OpenPlans contract has so far cost just $265,000. The MTA expects to save 70% from what Clever Devices was charging.
Second Avenue Sagas reports that the B63 pilot program uses "much of the same technology that will one day be installed as card readers for the next-generation fare payment technology system... The bus tracking uses a wireless modem, a power conditioner, a highly-secure on-board computer and a GPS device with dead reckoning to track the bus." You can test it out on the MTA "BusTime" website; clicking on a bus icon shows you its location, and entering your nearest bus stop intersection shows you how many stops away the next bus in.
At the bus stop, straphangers with smartphones can use an MTA app for mobile browsing, and they can also snap a picture of a two-dimensional bar code installed at every B63 stop; a free barcode-reading app then takes users directly to the mobile website. Regular cell phone users can also send a text message with a numerical code displayed at each stop, and "immediately" receive a return text with the real-time locations
of the next several buses. And the MTA is also partnering with local businesses, who will install LCD signs displaying bus locations in real-time at the bus stop nearest the merchant’s location.
What's missing so far is an estimated time of arrival for the buses on the B63 route. But one MTA analyst tells Second Avenue Sagas they are working on developing an "accurate prediction algorithm" for travel times. For now, you'll only know how many stops away your bus is, not what time it will arrive. Baby steps.
