Waiting for a late bus is annoying at the best of times, but downright miserable in a cold Canadian winter. So, public transit services are using technology to try to improve things.
The city of Montreal has spent $155 million on a program that will allow it to track its buses and facilitate communication between drivers and dispatchers, reports the Montreal Gazette. Dispatchers will be able to tell whether a bus is running on time and estimate whether it will arrive on schedule as posted at individual bus stops.
Walking can be better than waiting
Eventually, transits users will be able to access the information on their smartphones or access it on a special phone line and through text messaging.
That will be handy when it’s -20 degrees outside. If you know the bus is going to be 10 minutes late, you may choose to step into a nearby shop or walk to the next bus stop instead of standing around freezing.
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