By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-848234.mp3
Dallas, TX –
DART is beta-testing a new "smart phone" application called "Where's My Bus?" KERA's BJ Austin says it allows a bus rider to track the location of a particular bus, and know how soon it will get to the stop.
DART's Morgan Lyons says the agency hopes the smart phone application will attract new riders. He says it takes the guess work out of hopping on a bus to get to work.
On the iPhone, or smart phone application, choose your route, your stop, direction of travel, and with a few clicks, you can find out where the bus IS at that moment, and what time it will get to your stop.
Lyons says DART light rail ridership is up on track to break last year's record for rail passengers. But bus travel is down from a year ago.
Lyons: Most of our trips our work related. 70 to 75% of our trips are work related. When people aren't working, they're not riding. So, that's had some effect. Also, gasoline prices have come down.
Lyons says during this early roll out, they're soliciting comments from riders about the smart phone application. He says the early response is extremely positive. DART hopes it catches on and more people catch the bus.