In 2015, the MTA promised that their new system for tracking the location of its buses would go live that year. Well, it finally did, and just in the nick of time: mid-December.
Though promised years ago, it’s here now. The reviews are coming in:
Used @Nashville_MTA real-time tracking on @transitapp this morning. Does the one thing it needs to do: assures me the bus is coming!
— Colby Sledge (@Sledgefor17) December 28, 2015
Though not fully rolled out yet (that’s coming in late January, according to the MTA), riders can now access real time data through Google Maps, Transit App, and the MTA’s own Music City Transit Tracker (currently available for Android, coming soon for iOS).
“You’re not going to be standing out in the rain waiting for a 3:45 p.m. bus,” said David Keiser, a transit advocate in Nasvhille. “You can look it up on the phone and see that it’s a mile away, so you can stay where there’s shelter and walk out to the stop at the right moment.”
The hype had been building for awhile, and it reached a peak in November:
Great turnout at @walkbikenash annual mtg to hear @MeganBarry2015 & @Nashville_MTA CEO. Real time app is coming! 📲 pic.twitter.com/dNchQPqq3q
— Michael Briggs (@transportBriggs) November 19, 2015
The MTA was well on its way to completing this system back in 2010 when a large portion of its equipment was destroyed by the major flooding that year. The agency and its contractor on the project couldn’t agree on how to move forward (the matter is under litigation), but MTA found a new contractor (Trapeze) to implement the real time system.
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