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

  • Mobilising data for the future of urban transport
    August 8, 2018
    It's not just gathering the data that's important, says Johan Herrlin - it's making sure that transport organisations share it with one another that will determine travellers' satisfaction. Data is transforming the way we move around cities, from family car journeys to the daily train commute. Gone are the days when travelling from A to B meant remembering your AA map and having to ask for directions at regular intervals. If you were trying to navigate London as a tourist a mere decade ago, it required
  • RIPTA partners with Init for electronic fare management project
    February 8, 2018
    The Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA) has selected Init Innovations in Transportation (Init) to implement an account-based electronic fare and back-office revenue management system on their fixed route fleet of over 240 buses. The technology is designed with the intention of allowing passengers to board faster and have more convenient fare options. Additionally, RIPTA hopes to eventually transition most of its fare transactions to mobile, retail, web and agency-internal e-fare smartcar
  • Viaduct deck renewal creates detour dilemma for MassDOT
    May 26, 2016
    As the deck renewal of the I-91 viaduct in Springfield gets underway, David Crawford looks at the preparation and planning to ease the resulting traffic congestion. Accommodating the deck renewal of a 4km-long/four-lanes in each direction viaduct in the heart of Springfield (Massachusetts’ third largest city), has involved the state’s Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in a massive exercise in transport research and ITS-based area-wide preplanning and traffic management. Supporting a workzone of well ab
  • Bringing V2I and V2V communications to workzone safety
    January 26, 2012
    Imran Hayee of the University of Minnesota Duluth's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering talks about efforts to bring V2I and V2V communications into work zones. With USDOT backing and under the auspices of the ITS Joint Program Office Connected Vehicle Research (formerly IntelliDrive) research programme, M. Imran Hayee of the University of Minnesota Duluth's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering along with team of his students, have been conducting research into the application of