After launching the technology in January, Centro plans to have new signs that display arrival times for Syracuse University buses ready by the end of the month.

The pilot program, called ‘Bus Time,’ will use GPS systems that will be displayed on the newly designed LED signs at certain bus stops, said Casey Brown, director of communications for Centro.

The technology has been installed in 20 buses and at 15 bus stops on the SU campus and in downtown Syracuse. The program will work with SU’s free shuttle buses, including the Connective Corridor route, Brown said.

Centro announced plans to launch the program near the end of January, according to a Jan. 20 article published in The Daily Orange. The signs at bus stops and new voice-automated signs on the buses were installed during the past two months, Brown said, and the company is now setting up the software.

The program is ‘on schedule’ and should be completed by the end of the month, though it doesn’t have an official launch date, he said.

‘Once we have all the times worked out, we will update the software,’ he said. ‘The amount of data that goes into the system is incredible.’

The Connective Corridor program provided $2.25 million for the project. SU and the New York State Department of Transportation each contributed $280,000, Brown said.

Clever Devices — a company that has already set up this technology for buses in other cities, including New York City, Chicago and Richmond, Va. — is completing the installation, Brown said.

The new technology uses wireless routers, which has allowed Centro to turn its buses into free Wi-Fi hotspots. Centro also plans to launch an iPhone application allowing users to track buses and get notifications about when buses will be coming, Brown said.

Brian Spitler, a sophomore accounting and marketing major, said he would use a mobile application to track the South Campus buses.

‘I use the schedule now, but it would nice to re-enforce that by seeing the times,’ he said.

But Brian Tackett, a philosophy graduate student, said he wasn’t too concerned with the new signs.

‘I guess it would be nice,’ he said. ‘There’s a schedule posted right there, and the buses are usually on time.’

jdgenco@syr.edu

 

 

 

Published on February 15, 2011 at 12:00 pm