Metro-North Railroad Schedules

Bus Time is a console located behind the driver's seat in a bus.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York City provides MTA Bus Time, also known as BusTime, an automatic vehicle location (AVL) and passenger information system for riders of its bus services operating under the New York City Bus and MTA Bus Company brands. By 2014, MTA Bus Time had been installed on all MTA bus routes in New York City, after having been piloted in late 2010 and officially launched in early 2011.

The software makes use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology installed on buses to send real-time location updates to passengers via internet-enabled devices (most notably smartphones), SMS messages, or countdown clocks set up at bus stops. The MTA had been trying to implement positioning technology for buses since 1996, with numerous pilot programs being implemented at different times.

Application and program [ edit ]

The MTA Bus Time app lets passengers monitor the whereabouts of their buses along a specific route. Google Maps is used to show bus routes and where buses are along those routes on computer browsers. g Type Q22) or intersection into the search bar. Time and distance to the next stop (in miles or stops) will be displayed for each bus. If you have a mobile device that can access the internet, you can type in a route and see the stops and bus locations along that route. If you enter a crossroads, you'll see a list of buses that stop there and the estimated arrival time of the next one. Scan the QR code for a stop or text the stop's numerical code to receive information via SMS; both codes can be found on the Guide-A-Ride box attached to bus stop signage and provide access to intersection information. For those without access to the internet or mobile phones, [1][2][3] Bus Time is also integrated into countdown clocks installed at various bus stops across the city, indicating how many stops away the next bus is. [1][2]

It costs about $20,000 per vehicle to implement the current Bus Time system, which includes in-car GPS and wireless communication units. The bus's control panel is typically located behind the driver's seat. Two companies, Verifone and Cubic Transportation Systems, supply the hardware; Trimble Navigation provides the GPS devices; and an open-source program, OneBusAway, manages the system. The Verifone system replaced a prototype "Smart Card" payment system that was created in collaboration with MasterCard. As part of the development process, Cambridge Systematics was also consulted. In terms of technology, the MTA is on par with Amazon.com. The technology is comparable to that used for the countdown clocks in the New York City subway system (known as Subway Time), as shown in [4][7][8]. [9]

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) uses Bus Time to generate route performance reports, and bus dispatchers and managers use it to keep an eye on and enhance service quality. The name of this system is "Bus Trek." [10][11][12]

History [ edit ]

When the first subway and bus countdown clocks were installed in the 2000s, New York City's public transportation system lacked any kind of arrival-time information system. Before the MTA's implementation, bus-tracking systems were already in use in a number of other major cities across the world, including London, Paris, Washington, D.C., and several American cities including Chicago, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. [13][14][15]

As early as 1979, the MTA put Motorola's "Radio-Data-Locator System" through its paces on buses leaving the Queens Village Depot. The buses would report in every 90 seconds to the East New York Bus Command Center in East New York, Brooklyn. Public access was restricted to the system, which was used to increase bus efficiency and eliminate bus bunching. [16]

Orbital Sciences Corporation was hired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's New York City Transit Authority (NYCT) in 1996 to create a bus-arrival monitoring system that was to be installed on 170 city buses by 1998. It would be implemented on the following Manhattan routes: M15, M31, M35, M57, 66, and 116, all of which originated at the 126th Street Depot. In 1997, Orbital received a second contract from the MTA to install a tracking system on the Long Island Bus system (now the independent Nassau Inter-County Express). [18] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) awarded a second contract for its Access-A-Ride paratransit service in 1999. In addition to modern subway cars and the still-in-use Clever Devices system found on the ex-MTA Long Island Bus/NICE Bus units, this system was supposed to include countdown clocks, interactive kiosks, and recorded "next stop" announcements on buses. The East New York Depot control center would oversee NYCT buses, while the Garden City control center would keep tabs on Long Island buses. After four years, the company had failed to meet the majority of its deadlines [17][18]. Meanwhile, the technology was flawed due to signal blockage from Manhattan's tall buildings and an unsuccessful dead reckoning system. The MTA ended its contract with NYCT in 2000 for various reasons, including those listed in [17][19]. [21][17]

In 1999, the NYC Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) intended to roll out a tracking and countdown clock program along the Q60 route on Queens Boulevard (which was then privately operated by DOT subcontractor Green Bus Lines). In 2002, the DOT hoped to have it running. After the success of the NYCT program, the MTA awarded Siemens a $13 million contract in the summer of 2005 to implement a pilot countdown clock program at fifteen stops on the same six bus routes in Manhattan. There were also delays in this project (the first countdown clocks didn't start working until October 2007; [21][24]). [25] Due to problems with the clocks' ability to accurately report arrival times, they were turned off in February 2008, and MTA withdrew from the program in early 2009. [21][25]

There are eight bus stops along 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan equipped with countdown clocks, which were installed in August 2009. These stops serve the M34 and M16 crosstown buses. Clever Devices, based out of Long Island, donated the GPS equipment and installed these clocks atop the bus stops' Cemusa shelters. The New York Times referred to the clocks as a "Miracle on 34th Street," a reference to the classic film of the same name. In this era, Clever Devices installed a large number of their AVL consoles in the MTA's brand-new Orion VII NG buses. In addition to the GPS system, Clever Devices also developed and released the first version of their Bus Time web service on October 14, 2010 for use along the route. After the two routes were rebranded as the M34 and M34A Select Bus Service in late 2011, the contractor removed the countdown clocks and replaced them with the current Bus Time system in April 2012. [21][31]

In February 2011, thirty buses on the B63 route in Brooklyn were outfitted with the technology for the latest version of MTA Bus Time. By the beginning of 2012, the system had been installed on every single local and express bus on Staten Island [7][32][33]. On April 6, 2012[30], the M34/M34A SBS started using the system, and by the end of the year, [6][7][32] it had been adopted by nearly every Bronx bus route. By March of 2014, it had been implemented across the city's five boroughs, and a mobile app had been made available in 2015. [11][34]

1. ^ a b c Emma Whitford (July 1, 2015). "Bus Departure Time Displays Are Expanding Across the Country" Gothamist Date of original publication: August 11, 2015 Retrieved On this day in history, November 8th, 2015
2. ^ a b c Rebecca Harshbarger, July 14, 2015. On Manhattan's 86th Street, "Select Bus Line" service has begun. New York City at 6:00 A.M. Retrieved The eighth of November. 2015
3. ^ See:
4. ^ a b Cubic Transportation Systems's MTA Bus Time(R) Receives ITS-New York's Project of the Year Award Thanks to Innovative Use of Existing Technology. World News Service June 16, 2014 Retrieved On September 29th, 2015
5. ^ See:
6. ^ a b On December 17th, 2014, Vincent Barone wrote: More dynamic digital bus shelter displays are on the way to Staten Island. Ahead, Staten Island New York City's Staten Island Retrieved On the 8th of November, 2015
7. ^ a b c Announcing the MTA Bus Schedule YouTube Greater New York Area Transit Authority Date: January 11, 2012 Retrieved Dated: November 8th, 2015
8. ^ Timekeeping Equipment for MTA Buses Authority for Metropolitan Transportation Retrieved November 8 2015
9. ^ "Electronic Strip Maps for the Metro's Future" "New Subway Cars to Feature Electronic Strip Maps" Mass Transit Administration 12 February 2016 Retrieved 12 February 2016
10. ^ a b Title: "MTA Bus Time Implementation & New Applications" (PDF) apta.com Public Transportation Association of the United States, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Archival material (PDF) the 9th of November, 2015 Retrieved Tuesday, November 9: 2015
11. ^ a b In March, the MTA will roll out real-time bus tracking in Brooklyn and Queens. MTA: The Metropolitan Area Transit Agency February 24th, 2014 Retrieved As of the 9th of November, 2015
12. ^ "January 2013 Transit and Bus Committee Meeting" (PDF) MTA: The Metropolitan Area Transit Authority The month of January in 2013 Replica of the original (PDF) on May 31, 2013 Retrieved March 9, 2016
13. ^ a b Michael M. Grynbaum (March 7, 2010) "Experimental Clocks Inform Stragglers as to Whether or Not the Wait Is Nearly Over" New York’s Daily News Retrieved Day of the Dead, November 9 2015
14. ^ Does Information Matter? A Study of Urban Bus Tracking Systems and Ridership thirteen.org WNET March 28, 2012 Retrieved November 9 2015
15. ^ a b See:
    • Michael M. Grynbaum Sunday, August 11th, 2009 What a 34th Street bus schedule looks like when you know when it will arrive. New York's Timely Newspaper Retrieved Wednesday, November 10 2015
    • Katherine Romero & Tom Namako. "The American Prospect." "The clock is ticking on the 34th St. bus" The Daily News (Tokyo) Originally posted on August 18, 2009 and archived here Retrieved As of the 8th of November, 2015
    • By Billy Parker 12 August 2009 "Deadline Clocks Emerge from Underground" Gothamist Page archived from the original on September 18, 2009 Retrieved It's the eighth of November today, 2015
16. ^ See:
    • Press Association (18 April 1979) "Radar to be tested for bus surveillance" Newspapers distributed by Gannett in the Westchester area New York Retrieved Saturday, November 7 2016
    • S. Dornfield Those dates in 1980 (9/15/9) Bus control and communication have taken a giant leap forward in Queens Village. The 30th Annual IEEE Conference on Vehicular Technology IEEE, Dearborn, MI doi:[[10]]1109/VTC.1980.1622832 Retrieved November 7 2016
    • (July 1991) Davies, Peter; Hill, Chris; Emmott, Neil; Siviter, Jeremy Final Report on NCTRP Project 60-1A: Assessment of Emerging Technologies for Transit and Ridesharing Applications (PDF) Urban Mass Transit Administration, United States Department of Transportation, Transportation Research Board, and the United States National Research Council Retrieved November 7 2016
    • According to the M.T.A., this is "The Solution to Bus Clustering." New York’s Daily News July 14, 1979 Retrieved November 7 2016
17. ^ a b c d Randy Kennedy (March 15, 2000) "Lost Contact in the City's Canyons; Satellites Turn into Helpless Detectors of Ground Transportation" New York's Timely Newspaper Retrieved Saturday, December 17 2015
18. ^ a b c Second contract for the company in the New York City area, worth $4 million, was awarded to Orbital by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for satellite tracking of the MTA's transit bus fleet. Dulles: PR Newswire The date of October 2, 1997 Retrieved Saturday, December 17 2015
19. ^ a b Carl Campanile (Oct. 26. 1999) The "Satellite Bus-track Plan" is having "building" issues. Post of New York Retrieved On the 17th of December, 2015
20. ^ (Campanile, Carl) September 8th, 1999 "TA Aims for the Stars in Its Quest for Faster Vans and Buses" The New York Evening News Retrieved On the 17th of December, 2015
21. ^ a b c d Author: Donohue, Pete Date: December 10, 2012 The MTA no longer uses bus arrival time displays and instead uses the Bus Time program. Daily News Retrieved Friday, November 8 2015
22. ^ In a piece published on June 15, 1999, by Carl Campanile "TaA Goes Into Space" Over Its New Bus Tracking System The Daily News (New York) Retrieved Saturday, December 17 2015
23. ^ (From Topousis, Tom's November 15, 2000) "Dot in City Sky Will Help Bus Riders Learn to Look Up" The Daily News Retrieved Thursday, December 17 2015
24. ^ For example: Chan, Sewell (June 28, 2005). According to "Metro Briefing New York: Manhattan: M.T.A. Approves Bus Experiment," a new bus experiment has been given the green light in Manhattan. An Article From The New York Times Retrieved On the 17th of December, 2015
25. ^ a b Amanda Coleman & Peter Donohue (2008). The bus time boards have been turned off. New York's Daily News Retrieved Tuesday, December 17 2015
26. ^ Bus Schedules and Times of Arrival for the 34th Street Crosstown from the MTA in New York City. MTA: The Metropolitan Area Transit Authority As of today, January 14, 2013 Retrieved March 11, 2016
27. ^ January 2010 Bus Company Committee Meeting (PDF) The MTA: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority January of 2010 From the archives (PDF) on the 18th of December, 2010 Retrieved March 9, 2016
28. ^ Timeline and history of New York City's subway system. Mass Transit Administration Date of original publication: January 8, 2014 Retrieved March 12, 2007
29. ^ Kelly Magee's October 15th, 2010 article Do you want to know if the bus has arrived yet? Check your phone. Observer of New York Retrieved Tuesday, November 9: 2015
30. ^ a b This Sunday, the M34 and M34A SBS Crosstown will be the first to offer MTA Bus Time®. Local Government Transportation Agency April 6, 2012 In the original form on April 10, 2012 Retrieved As of the 9th of November, 2015
31. ^ Andrea Bernstein (April 9, 2012). "The Real Deal: MTA Takes Away Crosstown Line Countdown Signs" wnyc.org WNYC Retrieved Dated November 9th, 2015
32. ^ a b Written by Michael Sedon (January 11, 2012) Staten Island bus riders will soon have access to an improved tracking system thanks to a new service. Progress on Staten Island New York's Staten Island Retrieved November 9 2015
33. ^ Customers on the B63 can now get real-time updates on the location of their bus via the MTA's BusTime service, which is accessible online, via text message, and via smartphone app. (PDF) MTA: The Metropolitan Area Transit Authority It's the 1st of February, 2011 Retrieved Day of the Dead, November 9 2015
34. ^ Emma Whitford (2015-06-05) The MTA has released a mobile app for its bus tracking service. Gothamist Date of original upload: November 13, 2015 Retrieved On the 9th of November, 2015

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