AATA pilot project gets real-time bus info to riders

Few things are as depressing as waiting and waiting and waiting in inclement weather for a bus named Godot, ...except, of course, watching your bus pull away just as you get to the bus stop.

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority is trying to eliminate such things with a new pilot program via Shepherd Intelligent Systems. The University of Michigan spin-off is testing technology that would let users see exactly where buses are located in real time.

"This is really focused around the riders," says Adrian Fortino, CEO of Shepherd Intelligent Systems.

The mobile technology lets bus riders see the real-time location of the bus they want to catch through active maps on a website or smart phone application. It also supplies accurate predictions (within a minute) of when a bus will arrive at its stop using text messages. The technology comes from the Magic Bus program U-M uses for its buses.

The pilot program will focus on Route #6 for the rest of this year. It could be spread throughout the rest of the AATA bus system next year.

Source: Adrian Fortino, CEO of Shepherd Intelligent Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

AATA pilot project gets real-time bus info to riders

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