Skip to main content

Live bus prediction technology launched

Bus passengers in San Bernardino, California now have up-to-the-minute, accurate bus arrival information at their fingertips with bus operator Omnitrans’ new NexTrip technology. Passengers can access NexTrip real-time bus information via mobile web browser, desktop computer, SMS/text, or by calling 1-800-9-OMNIBUS and selecting the NexTrip option. Online, customers can view buses and stops on a route map with real-time tracking. They even can sign up for automatic alerts, such as notification when the bus i
January 22, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Bus passengers in San Bernardino, California now have up-to-the-minute, accurate bus arrival information at their fingertips with bus operator 7107 Omnitrans’ new NexTrip technology.

Passengers can access NexTrip real-time bus information via mobile web browser, desktop computer, SMS/text, or by calling 1-800-9-OMNIBUS and selecting the NexTrip option. Online, customers can view buses and stops on a route map with real-time tracking. They even can sign up for automatic alerts, such as notification when the bus is five minutes away.

Omnitrans CEO/general manager Milo Victoria was instrumental in bringing the new technology to Omnitrans. “We introduced this in DC, while I was at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and our passengers absolutely loved it. So I promised our board we would implement it at Omnitrans,” he said.

To use NexTrip, customers simply provide their bus stop location information by bus route, direction and intersection or an Omnitrans bus stop number, located on all bus stop signs. GPS-enabled phones can automatically provide information for the closest bus stop.  Omnitrans will install new signs with complete NexTrip contact information in mid-2013.  The signs will feature a QR code passengers can scan, providing yet another option to access arrival times.

The system uses global positioning system (GPS) tracking satellites and advanced computer modeling developed by Nextbus of California to provide accurate arrival information for all 2,500 bus stops in the Omnitrans fixed route bus system. According to Omnitrans, taking into account the actual location of the buses, their intended stops, and the typical traffic patterns, NexTrip estimates arrivals with a high degree of accuracy.

In 2014, Omnitrans will roll out NexTrip electronic message signs on all twenty-three station platforms on the agency’s sbX bus rapid transit line, now under construction in San Bernardino and Loma Linda.  Real-time information signs will also be added to major transfer centers in the Omnitrans system.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Data exploits parking potential
    March 11, 2015
    David Crawford parallel parks with innovations in two continents. Surveys of US cities indicate that drivers searching for parking can account for up to 37% of all urban traffic congestion. A 2011 study by IBM of 20 cities around the world found that nearly six out of ten drivers had abandoned their search for a parking space at least once; while motorists generally spent on average 20 minutes looking for a sought-after spot.
  • GPS delivers accurate journey time data for UTC
    January 27, 2012
    A new solution developed as a consequence of the UK's Freeflow project fuses GPS and UTC loop data to give more accurate predictions of journey times, benefting network managers and travellers alike. By Matt Cowley and Gareth Jones, Trakm8 and John Polak and Rajesh Krishnan, Imperial College London
  • RIPTA install fare management platform for bus fleet
    March 7, 2018
    The Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA) has selected Init to implement an account-based electronic fare and back-office revenue management system on their fixed-route fleet of over 240 buses. The platform is intended to allow passengers to board faster and receive more convenient fare options. Once completed, the solution will allow passengers to pay fares by tapping their card or mobile device on a validator. Init’s Mobilevario will calculate the fare, validate the transaction against the
  • Getting real with fleet management and passenger information
    September 2, 2013
    UK ticketing technology company Parkeon has partnered with information specialist Cloud Amber to develop a new way of using the in-built GPS/GPRS functionality of an electronic ticket machine to improve the scope and accuracy of real time information systems while reducing system cost, complexity and maintenance requirements. Newport Transport is to take advantage of the alliance to become one of the first bus operators in the country to take direct control of its real time information systems, using the t