New technology aids bus riders - Danville Commercial News

DANVILLE – Danville Mass Transit uses its Facebook social media page to keep riders informed on routes. This comes in handy during bad weather and when there are any disruptions, re-routes or cancellations.

Now riders have an app called ETA SPOT they can find out in real time on smart phones and tablets if a bus is on time or running a little late on a route.

Danville Mass Transit added computer aided dispatch/automatic vehicle locator (CAD/AVL) technology system-wide for its 14 routes and evening service.

A description of the app: With up-to-the-minute arrival prediction, route planning, and system alerts, SPOT from ETA Transit Systems is a mobile app for riders of select transit agencies.

SPOT allows riders to select and compare multiple routes, view all current and upcoming arrival times, and receive communications regarding system outages, delays and other critical information on any internet-enabled smartphone or tablet.

DMT director Lisa Beith said they have been working the bugs out of the new system.

“We’re still in the very elemental stages in getting the bus tracking to work. We are far from perfect, but when we do get things ironed out it will be a very valuable tool,” Beith said.

Beith said they have had the ability to locate buses through a GPS radio system.

“The technology has improved so we have a better response,” she said.

The technology is new for riders. It keeps real time of where a bus is, she said.

A rider can use the map on the app and follow where a bus is.

There’s also information about schedules and specific times to see when a bus should be at a stop, Beith added.

For example, a rider can see what times a bus should arrive at the bus stop hear the hospital during a day's time.

“(Riders) can help plan their own trips,” Beith said.

Beith said the new technology also helps bus drivers. By law, the drivers have to make stop announcements so people with visual or cognitive disabilities know where they are on a bus route.

“It makes the announcements for us based on where we are,” Beith said, such as saying “Vermilion and Winter."

She said that relieves the burden on the driver to make those regular announcements.

The drivers love the new technology, Beith said, adding that they then can focus more on driving and not worry about forgetting to announce the intersection and stop locations.

“I’ve heard all good things,” she said too about the app from riders.

She said not a big group is using it yet, but a handful of riders have been using it already.

One rider, a younger man, kept emailing Beith about when the app would be ready.

DMT used capital project funding for the technology purchase. DMT receives an allocation of federal funding each year.

“It’s almost a year since the inception of this,” Beith said of the new system.

This summer, equipment began to be installed. They’ve had to work out bugs with the public announcement system and the equipment.

To install the new Danville Mass Transit app, go to ETA SPOT. After downloading the app, find Danville Mass Transit. Then a rider can find specific routes and maps.

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