NextBus

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NextBus is a vehicle tracking system for public transportation vehicles, especially buses and trams/light rail operations. Each vehicle is outfitted with a GPS receiver, which transmits data about bus or tram speed and location to produce projected arrival/departure times. These times are broadcasted to electronic signs at bus stops and tram stops and to the Internet including to wireless devices such as cell phones and PDAs. NextBus also provides management tools so that transit agencies can better manage their systems.

NextBus claims this system increases transit user satisfaction by increasing the amount of information regarding delays and other disruptances that reaches the average commuter. This information can be distributed by the Internet and also by signs at bus and light rail stops. The system is used on the San Francisco Municipal Railway for 3 bus lines and all of the light rail services. AC Transit, which provides bus service in much of the East Bay region of the San Francisco area from Oakland and Berkeley to Fremont, uses it to provide arrival data for its rapid bus lines in Oakland, Berkeley and Richmond and also for lines serving Fruitvale BART; the Emery Go Round shuttle in nearby Emeryville, California has also implemented the technology. The system used on a total of approximately 40 transit agencies throughout the United States and Canada.

[edit] External links

• www.NextBus.com
• Portland, OR - Streetcar
• Emeryville, CA - Emery Go Round
• Vail, CO - Vail Transit
• Boulder, CO - Community Transit/Denver RTD
• East San Francisco Bay, CA - AC Transit
• San Francisco, CA - Municipal Railway