The Transit app allows Blue Water Area riders to view bus routes in real-time

Mike Dora has been a bus driver for Blue Water Area Transit for over 40 years. During that time, he has watched excitedly as the company has continued to upgrade the service for local riders.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years, primarily in the building and equipment,” Dora says. “Management’s attitude to make the system grow and make it easier for the riders to use the system. Our apps and route maps keep improving and of course the driver interaction with the riders.”
Mike Dora, Bus Driver for BWAT.
Now a new service is being offered throughout the Blue Water Area that should greatly aid riders. Passengers can now plan their trips through the free app Transit that is being offered and track their bus in real-time. The app is meant to enhance the services provided and also allow new follow-up services in the future.

“We are very excited that our passengers now have access to the information this app provides,” says Blue Water Area Transit General Manager Dave McElroy. “Not knowing if you missed the bus is certainly stressful, and by utilizing the information this app provides, riders will have the information they need to make travel decisions. We hope it saves riders time and alleviates stress across the system.”

“We have been working on this for months,” says Blue Water Area Transit Community and Labor Relations Director Lee-Perry Belleau. “We looked at a couple of different options. [The new app] is already improving service. It has improved effectiveness about 20 percent.”

The Transit mobile app is available for iOS, Android, and Google Play operating systems. Help with how to use the Transit app can be found at Transit Support.

“It’s pretty simple to use,” Belleau says. “You simply download the app on your phone and tell it when you want to be picked up. The other option is the app shows the three closest fixed routes and when you need to leave to go to the bus."

Blue Water Area Transit isn’t done upgrading either. Soon the company will release another service that allows users to schedule ride pickups throughout the area. The app will allow riders to schedule their ride and be taken to pick-up centers that will connect to the fixed bus routes.
View of the Transit app.
“We have been working to combine the two apps into one for us to have dial-a-ride service so that riders in the system can schedule a ride to be picked up," Belleau says. "Eventually, it will be a whole system; Fort Gratiot, Port Huron Township, Marysville. They can schedule a ride once the second app is in place and go schedule your own ride and pick-up. It’s something that’s on the way. Dial a ride goes out a little bit and brings them into downtown.” 

The new apps will provide customers the independence of knowing exactly where their bus is, along with a time estimate of when the bus will reach their location. It will also alert riders when to leave to catch the bus and when the fixed-route buses are experiencing interruptions.

“I do think it will take it to the next level,” says Downtown Station Attendant Rod Modell. “Putting that power to schedule rides and to see where your bus is at and everything like that. Putting it in the hands of the user is great. In the past, you would have to call dispatch and have them schedule what they need to schedule and this takes the intermediary away where you don’t have to use dispatch to get the job done. You can kind of do it. It’s more instantaneous. It removes some of the hassle of riding the bus. You can do it on your own now."

Rod Modell, BWAT's Downtown Station Attendant.

“Everything is interfaced through your phone now. Most people can’t check their bank account without a phone app. I think people are already kind of climatized to doing it this way. I think this just brings us up to date and makes it easier for the user. I think people will be more inclined to use the app rather than having to call dispatch and having it done the old-fashioned way.”

For more information on BWATC or the new app, please contact dispatch at 810-987-7373. You can also email BWATC at info@bwbus.com.

“I think more people will use our services now,” Modell says. “In the short term, it makes it easier for the current user. A lot of younger people use apps for everything else. It’s the way things are done. It will also be easier for new users to jump right on. I think it will ultimately increase our ridership and make it considerably easier for our current ridership.”