The Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority (TheRide) has introduced a new, reliable, and accessible tools that make it easier for riders to use its services. Customers visiting TheRide.org will now notice a refreshed homepage that focuses on tools for planning trips, tracking buses, and customizing route schedules:
- Plan My Trip: Enter where and when you’d like to travel, and see which routes can serve you
- Track My Bus: Find where your bus is in real-time, and when it will arrive at your stop
- Routes & Schedules: Personalize timetables for your specific bus stops
The homepage of TheRide.org has been redesigned with these tools front and center, making them more convenient for passengers to use. The menus on the homepage have been simplified so that customers can navigate to important content more quickly. Because many computers retain older versions of website content, TheRide recommends that site visitors simultaneously press the Shift and F5 keys on their keyboards in order to view the most current version.
The Internet isn’t the only place where customers will see improvements that help them on their journeys. LED signs at the Central Campus Transit Center, which are operated by the University of Michigan, recently began to display bus arrival information. This fall, electronic signs will be installed in several additional locations. Exterior electronic signs will be installed in the four shelter locations on Fourth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor, and will display information for the buses boarding at each shelter. Interior electronic signs will be installed at the Blake Transit Center in Ann Arbor and at the Ypsilanti Transit Center. These will replace the existing signs in those buildings.
Within the next month, TheRide will also be making its Application Program Interface (API) available to app developers so they can create useful mobile applications that further enhance the way that customers can find and use information. In addition, TheRide is currently testing a text messaging service that will provide real-time bus arrival information through SMS messaging. More information on that tool will be shared on TheRide.org and TheRide’s social media channels when it becomes available.
These improvements are all made possible with the installation of new Automatic Vehicle Location equipment on TheRide’s entire fleet of buses. TheRide's previous software system on board buses was originally installed 19 years ago and was no longer able to provide the high level of detail and responsiveness desired by customers. With updates to this system in place, TheRide is able to address issues that have made providing real-time technology a challenge in the past, and incorporate many of the improvements suggested by customers to help keep an eye on the future.
