Beginning on March 16, the North Central Regional Transit District (NCRTD) will undergo a massive shift in services and offerings on its RTD “Blue Buses.” In addition to adding new routes, additional stops, and featuring more user-friendly pickup and drop-off times and connecting options, NCRTD will be unveiling an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), which will provide real-time bus location services accessible by smartphone, tablet or computer.
A mobile iPhone app, called “myStop” will serve as a “Blue Bus Tracker,” giving riders GPS-enabled real time updates on bus location, routes and schedules. In addition, over the coming weeks signs will be installed at each RTD bus stop that will feature a QR code and phone text information to find out exactly where your bus is and also when the next three buses will arrive at your stop.
“This updated technology allows our riders the freedom to plan their day with certainty and takes the guesswork out of taking the bus,” said Anthony J. Mortillaro, NCRTD executive director “Additionally, our enhanced routes are all designed to make the commute or travel process using the Blue Bus more user-friendly, efficient, and thorough, regardless of what your travel needs might be.”
Some highlights of the new services include: a Taos to Santa Fe morning and evening commuter bus featuring streamlined service and no change of bus in Española; extended service to Golden in south Santa Fe County on Wednesday on the Turquoise Trail route; midday service from Santa Fe to Edgewood and Eldorado; expanded stops and service in Los Alamos County and an easy midday connection to Santa Fe; new one day per week (Wednesday) service from Tres Piedras to Taos; expanded five-day-per-week Chama to Española service; better service options and connections to El Rito and Ojo Caliente; conversion of Pojoaque-Nambé Route to a dial-a-ride service; and more. The NCRTD has also begun to operate the Taos Express, providing weekend express service between Taos, Española and Santa Fe for a nominal fee.
A re-designed, more user friendly NCRTD website, RidetheBlueBus.com (NCRTD.org), will also launch on March 16.
These service and route enhancements are all part of the NCRTD’s five-year transit service plan for improving rider experiences. The “Blue Bus Tracker” will feature transit information on-the-go and will be accessible from a phone, tablet, or computer. The digital enhancements and app have features that show the location of every bus on the road, and will assist in showing riders how soon a bus will arrive at any given stop, as well as the ETA of every Blue Bus on the road. Riders can also find the nearest Blue Bus stop to their location, get notifications of delays and weather-related service disruptions, and sign up for route-specific email or text alerts to provide for arrival and departure alerts – all to make sure they don’t miss their bus.
The North Central Regional Transit District provides free bus service Monday through Friday, on 20 fixed and commuter routes, to a service area that encompasses over 10,000 square miles of north central New Mexico including the counties of Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and Taos; the Cities of Santa Fe and Española and the Towns of Taos and Edgewood; as well as the Pueblos of Pojoaque, Ohkay Owingeh, Nambé, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara and Tesuque. The company’s signature “RTD Blue Buses” provide additional transit connections to New Mexico Rail Runner, Santa Fe Trails, New Mexico Park and Ride, Los Alamos Atomic City Transit, Taos Chile Line and Red River Miner’s Transit.
