Skip to main content

Montreal’s buses to get GPS and real-time information

Bus passengers in Montreal will soon be able to plan their journey using real time information, making trip planning easier and reducing frustration over late buses. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has approved a US$93 million contract to equip its 1,900 buses with a system, called iBus, that monitors the location of buses using GPS and relays that data to users via the web and smartphones.
September 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Bus passengers in Montreal will soon be able to plan their journey using real time information, making trip planning easier and reducing frustration over late buses.

The 4335 Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) has approved a US$93 million contract to equip its 1,900 buses with a system, called iBus,  that monitors the location of buses using GPS and relays that data to users via the web and smartphones.  

Display screens and speakers will be installed on buses to announce the next stop.   Screens featuring the time of upcoming buses will also be installed at busy bus stops and some metro stations.

511 INIT, a German firm with offices in Montreal, will supply and install the GPS technology, software, speakers and screens, as well as new two-way radio equipment for bus drivers. Installation is to begin in late 2014 and will take about two years to complete, said STM spokesperson Odile Paradis. The system will be phased in as installation progresses.

At the moment, the STM only provides scheduled bus times to passengers, via its website, smartphone apps and printed timetables. With iBus, “passengers will know, in real-time, when the bus will come,” Paradis said. “If there’s a schedule change, or if the bus is late because of a fire or some other reason, we can alert people.”

Many other cities, including Laval, have installed such systems to encourage people to use public transit by making trip-planning easier and reducing frustration over late buses.

Related Content

  • February 2, 2012
    Transport and traffic management for major sporting events
    Maurizio Tomassini, Isis, and Monica Giannini, Pluservice, detail the STADIUM project, which is intended to provide those responsible for planning major international events with a blueprint for success
  • September 28, 2020
    The benefit of Lidar: touch, don’t look
    The benefits of Lidar as a safety device for automobiles rather than as an enabler for AVs are easy to overlook – but Dr Jun Pei of Cepton Technologies tells Adam Hill why that would be a big mistake
  • January 18, 2013
    Transit hub promised in San Diego area
    San Diego North County’s Interstate 15 corridor is best known for its flood of freeway traffic, not its mass transit stations. This is due to change next year, when the Sabre Springs/Penasquitos transit station, just east of I-15 on Sabre Springs Parkway, is set to undergo a US$12.2 million face-lift that will include a four-storey parking garage, electric vehicle charging stations, electronic next bus signs and even some smart parking spaces. “This will be our flagship station,” said Frank Owsiany, who ov
  • July 3, 2013
    Manchester to enforce city bus lanes
    Siemens has been awarded a contract by Manchester City Council to supply unattended bus lane enforcement cameras for sites across the city, to enable the Council to identify unauthorised vehicles using the lanes restricted for the unhindered flow of buses, capture the event and prepare an evidential record to support the issue of an enforcement notice. The cameras are re-deployable and will be moved around a number of locations to provide maximum coverage. Working with UK bus lane enforcement equipment supp