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

  • Pioneering IntelliDrive technologies in Michigan
    February 2, 2012
    Pete Goldin reports on upgrades to the USDOT's Michigan Test Bed, where IntelliDrive technologies are being pioneered
  • Preparing for connected vehicle technology challenge
    December 14, 2012
    A decision on mandating connected vehicle technology is expected in 2013, when associated political issues such as privacy are likely to come to the fore. Pete Goldin investigates industry’s preparations for the challenge. Once in a while new technology comes along with the power to revolutionise the way we live our lives. Connected vehicle technology could be such a game changer. If mandated in the United States, it could quickly become the status quo for transportation in the US, and such a disruptive cha
  • Huawei advocates for change
    April 23, 2025
    Achieving technological change also requires a shift in mindset, as Jacky Wang, vice president of Huawei’s Smart Transportation business unit, explains
  • The importance of going with the flow
    April 6, 2018
    Ensuring worker safety and up-to-date driver information is crucial to ensure that roadworks are not a source of danger and delay. Andrew Williams looks at a scheme on the A14 in Cambridgeshire, UK. In recent years, portable workzone ITS solutions have emerged as important tools in the management of major roadworks and system upgrade projects - and are viewed as an increasingly vital means of ensuring any ongoing traffic flow disruption is kept to a minimum. The technology forms a central component of an