The Capital Area Transit System announced a new texting feature today that will allow riders to check via their cellphones a list of buses scheduled to arrive at their stops within one hour. The feature is aimed at riders who do not have smartphones or access to data plans, though it is available to everyone, including those with smartphones.
“This is something CATS has been working hard to implement for many months. After careful planning and testing, we are really happy to begin rolling out this feature,” says CATS CEO Bob Mirabito in a statement.
This isn’t the first time CATS has implemented technology aimed at helping riders track when buses will arrive. Several years ago, the agency launched the CATS Trax technology, but the GPS software system and smartphone app originally didn’t live up to its hype.
Issues were realized shortly after its launch, and riders complained it wasn’t reliable. Fewer than nine months after its launch, CATS temporarily suspended the technology only to reintroduce it less than seven months later.
CATS had a $1.4 million contract with RouteMatch Software for the system, according to an October 2013. Today’s announcement does not say how much the new text feature is costing CATS.
Riders can still use CATS Trax and the free RouteShout smartphone app and web portal to track buses.
CATS spokeswoman Amie McNaylor says the texting feature is another component of RouteMatch, the company that does RouteShout. The text function will not replace the app, she says. It’s simply another way for riders to access information.
“We realize that not all of our customers have a smartphone, but the vast majority have a mobile phone with texting capability,” McNaylor says.
McNaylor also says CATS has worked out the problems with its apps. She says as far as she knows, the app is working fine.
To get the word out about its new text feature CATS is installing the first of 300 bus stop placards explaining the feature at bus stops along Florida Boulevard. With the placards, customers can text their bus stop ID to a specific number and CATS will reply with every bus coming to that stop within the next hour. Normal text rates will apply.
Mirabito says 50 stops along Florida Boulevard and Airline Highway will be the first to get the placards.
“We will continue until all the placards have been placed at the 300 bus stops that serve multiple routes, and we anticipate all 300 placards will be placed by March, weather permitting,” Mirabito says.
After the 300 placards have been installed, placards will be installed at the remaining stops as well.
