University Buses Can Now Be Tracked in Real Time

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Anyone with a smartphone or other device connected to the Internet can now get real time information about University of Arkansas bus service through a new feature of the UARK Mobile app and the new the Campus Map on the U of A website.

The new feature can show any bus route, where the bus is on any selected route and where it is going, with the position updated every 10 seconds (see figure 1.)

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

“We added this feature to the maps because we thought it would be helpful for students and anyone else who regularly rides Razorback buses,” said Adam Waddell, logistics manager for Razorback Transit. “We really appreciate the work done by the university relations digital design and development office to make this possible.”

The new feature lets a bus rider avoid spending any extra time standing out in the hot sun, rain, cold, snow or worse waiting for a bus.

After pulling up the bus route on a smartphone screen the rider can touch the next stop on the route for an estimated time of arrival (see figure 2) — or touch any stop along the route to find out the location of the stop and when the bus is due to arrive (see figure 3.)

The bus app can also provide transit alerts when and if there is a change in the bus schedule.

“The GPS technology selected for this project provides more than our bus locations,” said Waddell. “It is integrated with multiple systems in Razorback Transit and provides instant operational and maintenance data for both fixed route and paratransit services.” 

The transit map feature can be downloaded at http://m.uark.edu or found on the Campus Maps feature on the U of A website http://campusmaps.uark.edu/.