New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that MTA Bus Time will expand to the Bronx, and then a third borough still to be announced, both before the end of the year.
MTA Bus Time is a popular digital system that currently allows Staten Island customers to track the real-time location of their buses via the Internet, smart phone or text message. The final two boroughs will be brought online in 2013.
The 1,025 buses serving the Bronx will now receive GPS units and other hardware needed for MTA Bus Time, adding to the 900 buses on Staten Island that have the technology. MTA Bus Time uses technology components from two New York City-based tech startups, research support provided by a team of graduate students, and an innovative open standards technology platform that gives the MTA flexibility in management and expansion of the service.
The technology supplies a 21st Century answer to the question bus riders have been asking since motorized bus service was first introduced in New York City more than a century ago.