On the heels of the fare hikes, MTA technology, BusTrek Rolls Out

[CPBO]

What about the jobs this will cut? We won't need a dispatcher on the corner...now just one maybe two guys in the console looking at a monitor.....so how do you as a pax complain to anybody now.....pick up a phone??

[QM1to6Ave]

Well, I found something...

 

http://bustrek.mta.info/

 

Looks like it was developed with City College. I assume it just uses data from Bustime or the Clever Devices GPSes to do whatever it does. MTA went the cheap route with this one yet again doing an "in-house" development, no wonder I haven't noticed a difference. That website looks pretty damn old too.

LOL, I like the copyright infringement with the Star Trek logo. You are right, that website looks pretty silly. Not surprised, though, it says it was developed by the MTA intern team, which has to be a group of unpaid student interns that do not have advanced computer programming skills. 

[titanium ally]

i may be wrong but could this be a way to eliminate the road ops position?

[B35 via Church]

Want to solve Q66 simple find out which drivers are slow and fire them give em pink slips and get better ones for that route. Or send those drivers to manhattan on crosstowns.

if drivers are slowing down the route intentionally they need to simply be let go that's all.

...and when you have drivers that are driving too fast, then what?

Skipping stops (or having to heavily brake to stop at a stop), then what?

Arriving too early to stops, then what?

 

What would firing guys that are slow (safe) drivers accomplish? I mean really.....

 

 

Seen it happen before- While riding a B1 bus the operator was told to push straight ahead, skipping a couple stops under the el until Ocean Parkway

That happened on a B68 I was on back, a few weeks after hurricane sandy.... Don't know what the situation was, but we went straight from Av P to Av Z (I got on at church).... At Av P, b/o said anyone that needed kings hwy had to get off here, and that the next stop was down at Av Z..... There was an empty bus at kings hwy that eventually filled up with pax (when that happened, I said to myself, since when does the 68 short turn at kings hwy)... We ended up passing another SB bus over there opposite the precinct along CI av (neck rd/av W), and that bus was crushloaded too....

 

But the people on the bus I was on that had to get off at av P for stops b/w 'P & 'Z, Maaan were people Pissed !

 

Well, I found something...

 

http://bustrek.mta.info/

 

Looks like it was developed with City College.....

 

.....That website looks pretty damn old too.

LMAO.... An atrocity if I ever saw it with my own eyes....

 

If I were someone that wasn't in tune w/ this (transit) community & someone shot me a link to that site, I would not take bustrek seriously with a site like that..... If I wasn't a NYC resident & someone shot me a link to that site, I would think the MTA in every facet of its operations is an absolute joke.... Your presentation has to be just as good as w/e it is you're presenting.....

 

It's just like these jokesters out here handing me their "business" cards w/ blatant misspellings on them.... It's embarrassing, to say the least.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I'm waiting to see VG8's face when he finds out this is powered by the Clever Devices system and not MTA Bustime...

 

Seriously, the article got that wrong. This system (which has been around for a while), the maintenance system and all on-board automated announcements (well the ones we have anyway) are powered by the Clever Devices system and nothing else. MTA just slapped a name on it now. Guess the OpenPlans gods who brought us the oh-so-amazing, money-saving piece of crap MTA Bustime couldn't figure out how to compete with CD on this one.

 

Anyway, like I said this has been around for a while and I don't see a difference with bus bunching nor have I heard any beeps or anything like that when one bus got too close to another (yes in a way I'm calling a Clever Devices product a piece of crap, but it's not like I don't think the same of their countdown clocks). We'll have to see how this turrns out in the long run.

lol... *Sarcasm* Well you think I really which one it is? I could care less... All I care about is being able to track where my bus is, and getting home quickly... My wait was no more than 5 minutes last night for a my bus and I was home in about 30 minutes.  Back in the old days I could spend 30 minutes just waiting for a bus.  All I care about is bus service improving and I think that's what most passengers care about.  Whatever platform they use, what's important to me is that it's reliable and overall considering that I use Bus Time on a daily basis and have been since it started on Staten Island, I have to say that it's pretty good.  If there are problems it's usually with Verizon and being in a bad spot for 4G service.

 

What about the jobs this will cut? We won't need a dispatcher on the corner...now just one maybe two guys in the console looking at a monitor.....so how do you as a pax complain to anybody now.....pick up a phone??

Well as far as I'm concerned, it's unfortunate but I don't think that the should continue to spend money having dispatchers out in the field if they don't have to.  Healthcare costs and pensions will continue to rise, not just for the but for most companies these days and every company (in this case an agency) has a responsibility to be more fiscally responsible, esp. the .  Downsizing is the negative with technology and it's happening in just about every field I can think of including mine... However, this should allow dispatchers to be more efficient and effective. I've seen dispatchers placed along Hylan Blvd supposedly to help out with the X1 running smoothly and it seems as if they just made things worse.  Three X1s running together, two packed sardine can express buses and one practically empty... Not exactly even loading by a long shot and then nothing for a good 10 minutes when there's supposed to be a bus every 5 - 6 minutes.

[petabread]

Interns not having advanced computer skills? I know someone who interned there a few years ago and he was telling me the highly paid computer guys barely knew how to run a network or even how to change computer parts, the interns came in and began modernization of everything. Just for the record, I interns, can be as smart as say, bill gates who dropped out of school or mark zuckerberg who also didn't finish up. We all know why.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Interns not having advanced computer skills? I know someone who interned there a few years ago and he was telling me the highly paid computer guys barely knew how to run a network or even how to change computer parts, the interns came in and began modernization of everything. Just for the record, I interns, can be as smart as say, bill gates who dropped out of school or mark zuckerberg who also didn't finish up. We all know why.

lol... I can't think of computers when you have a name like petabread... You're making me hungry!!

[FamousNYLover]

I think lots of tourists will be confused with $1 New Card surcharge.

[B35 via Church]

Interns not having advanced computer skills? I know someone who interned there a few years ago and he was telling me the highly paid computer guys barely knew how to run a network or even how to change computer parts, the interns came in and began modernization of everything. Just for the record, I interns, can be as smart as say, bill gates who dropped out of school or mark zuckerberg who also didn't finish up. We all know why.

...is true.... People of the sort I have to deal with.

 

Anyway, I don't think that site is reflective of the computer skills the creators have....

Now their photo editing skills.......... different story

[w8Hou]

Just to make sure I'm right, does it say "Powered by Clever Devices" on the BusTrek thing? If you're saying that's the platform we'll be using at some point, perhaps the MTA has finally given up on that BusTime crap.

No, BusTrek is not powered by Clever Devices, they were never involved.

 

The City College professor did the work: http://www.subchat.com/buschat/read.asp?Id=272156

[Orion VII 4 Life]

 

LOL, I like the copyright infringement with the Star Trek logo. You are right, that website looks pretty silly. Not surprised, though, it says it was developed by the MTA intern team, which has to be a group of unpaid student interns that do not have advanced computer programming skills.

Not like they haven't done that before, both BusTime and TrainTime are registered trademarks of Clever Devices, don't know how they're getting away with that one.

[Cait Sith]

No, BusTrek is not powered by Clever Devices, they were never involved.

 

The City College professor did the work: http://www.subchat.com/buschat/read.asp?Id=272156

 

Thanks for that, I knew they were never involved from the get-go.

[Grand Concourse]

I think lots of tourists will be confused with $1 New Card surcharge.

Well, nothing you can do about it. Unless they know someone in the city or buys a card from a bodega store, they'll have to pay the surcharge. With all the money they spend to come here, what's another $1? Just share the pay per ride card among the group.

[MHV9218]

Not like they haven't done that before, both BusTime and TrainTime are registered trademarks of Clever Devices, don't know how they're getting away with that one.

 

Why are you so obsessed about Clever Devices? Talking bout frothing at the mouth every time there's any mention of BusTime... The system doesn't work that badly, and it's much more cost efficient than the Clever Devices system was. The MTA is not using Clever Devices. They're going in-house. Period. Stop beating a dead horse here. Nobody 'stole' your beloved Clever Devices or anything.

[Orion VII 4 Life]

Why are you so obsessed about Clever Devices? Talking bout frothing at the mouth every time there's any mention of BusTime... The system doesn't work that badly, and it's much more cost efficient than the Clever Devices system was. The MTA is not using Clever Devices. They're going in-house. Period. Stop beating a dead horse here. Nobody 'stole' your beloved Clever Devices or anything.

Because we the customers are using a cheap, shitty system that doesn't work (and really, buses I use with Bustime barely ever show up right) and was developed by hippies/hipsters/whatever the hell they are that have no expertise in transit technology, when a Clever Devices computer is already in place in EVERY NEW BUS and is used by TA staff for maintenance and other purposes and is well capable of delivering more solutions to the MTA and the riding public. Pretty much every other major TA takes full advantage of Clever Devices' BusTime, auto announcements, etc. systems that satisfy both management and customers. I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, seen an "invisible bus" on a Clever Devices BusTime system such as NJT's MyBusNow, whereas at MTA Bustime it's a regular thing and any rider will tell you that. The riders will be equally, if not more satisfied with Clever Devices' BusTime over MTA/OpenPlans' open-source OneBusAway system. You saw how upset people got when their pilot system was removed from the M34/A.

 

As for the in-house argument, "MTA BusTime" uses an open-source program called OneBusAway. The MTA consultant (OpenPlans) simply took that program, modified it to the MTA's needs, and hired VeriFone to install the system. It's far from in-house even though no other major TA in the country is dumb enough to use it.

[QM1to6Ave]

I have to agree that the M34 system from Clever Systems was a lot better than BusTime. But the cost would have been prohibitive. I prefer an in-house system IF it leaves more money for increasing service and getting more buses on the road. BusTime works well enough for me (sort  of), but it is not close to perfect. 

[N6 Limited]

With the bus time app, they should have a "Flag" button. Where if you're in the app and you're flagged by the bus, you hit it and it notes the time and GPS location, and sends it to the MTA.

[Cait Sith]

Why are you so obsessed about Clever Devices? Talking bout frothing at the mouth every time there's any mention of BusTime... The system doesn't work that badly, and it's much more cost efficient than the Clever Devices system was. The MTA is not using Clever Devices. They're going in-house. Period. Stop beating a dead horse here. Nobody 'stole' your beloved Clever Devices or anything.

Because we the customers are using a cheap, shitty system that doesn't work (and really, buses I use with Bustime barely ever show up right) and was developed by hippies/hipsters/whatever the hell they are that have no expertise in transit technology, when a Clever Devices computer is already in place in EVERY NEW BUS and is used by TA staff for maintenance and other purposes and is well capable of delivering more solutions to the MTA and the riding public. Pretty much every other major TA takes full advantage of Clever Devices' BusTime, auto announcements, etc. systems that satisfy both management and customers. I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, seen an "invisible bus" on a Clever Devices BusTime system such as NJT's MyBusNow, whereas at MTA Bustime it's a regular thing and any rider will tell you that. The riders will be equally, if not more satisfied with Clever Devices' BusTime over MTA/OpenPlans' open-source OneBusAway system. You saw how upset people got when their pilot system was removed from the M34/A.

 

As for the in-house argument, "MTA BusTime" uses an open-source program called OneBusAway. The MTA consultant (OpenPlans) simply took that program, modified it to the MTA's needs, and hired VeriFone to install the system. It's far from in-house even though no other major TA in the country is dumb enough to use it.

 

You really need to get a grip on reality.

 

First and foremost, you can't speak for everyone that uses the system. Most people don't give two shits about what is used as long as they see their bus and where it's at. No one cares this much about Clever Devices other than you. Hell, most people don't know what a Clever Device is!

 

Second, you are all the way out in NJ, how on Earth are you going to speak for those who actually use BusTime on a daily basis? As far as I'm concerned, you haven't used the platform enough to say anything. Just because you wanted to ride a certain bus or shoot a certain bus and didn't get it doesn't mean it sucks. Get over this shit already.

 

If you don't like the platform, then that's you. New Yorkers that use the platform like it because it actually helps them. The times I've used it, I've had a missing bus or two here and there but otherwise , it's been on point for me and I'm pretty sure others can agree with me on that. The regular customer wouldn't give a shit about all of this useless information, they just want to know where their bus is and what time it will show up.

 

Simply put, if you don't like it, don't use it. Now shut the hell up about it. You sound like a spoiled little child.

 

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Orion VII 4 Life]

You really need to get a grip on reality. First and foremost, you can't speak for everyone that uses the system. Most people don't give two shits about what is used as long as they see their bus and where it's at. No one cares this much about Clever Devices other than you. Hell, most people don't know what a Clever Device is! Second, you are all the way out in NJ, how on Earth are you going to speak for those who actually use BusTime on a daily basis? As far as I'm concerned, you haven't used the platform enough to say anything. Just because you wanted to ride a certain bus or shoot a certain bus and didn't get it doesn't mean it sucks. Get over this shit already. If you don't like the platform, then that's you. New Yorkers that use the platform like it because it actually helps them. The times I've used it, I've had a missing bus or two here and there but otherwise , it's been on point for me and I'm pretty sure others can agree with me on that. The regular customer wouldn't give a shit about all of this useless information, they just want to know where their bus is and what time it will show up. Simply put, if you don't like it, don't use it. Now shut the hell up about it. You sound like a spoiled little child. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G using Tapatalk 2

Where I live doesn't matter, especially when so many people on here like MTA BusTime and hate Clever Devices when the transit system where they live doesn't use them. Yes the average rider doesn't give a shit about technical crap like us "foamers" do, but if they went from using MTA BusTime to Clever Devices BusTime I'm sure they'd like the CD system better, and based on what happened with the M34/A they definitely like CD BusTime and all that comes with it better. I'm sure they get plenty angry too when a bus doesn't show up on MTA BusTime.

 

The real question is will the MTA really ever ditch their "own" system for Clever Devices? No one here knows, so I'm just gonna sit back and watch shit go down... Case closed.

[bobtehpanda]

Where I live doesn't matter, especially when so many people on here like MTA BusTime and hate Clever Devices when the transit system where they live doesn't use them. Yes the average rider doesn't give a shit about technical crap like us "foamers" do, but if they went from using MTA BusTime to Clever Devices BusTime I'm sure they'd like the CD system better, and based on what happened with the M34/A they definitely like CD BusTime and all that comes with it better. I'm sure they get plenty angry too when a bus doesn't show up on MTA BusTime.

 

The real question is will the MTA really ever ditch their "own" system for Clever Devices? No one here knows, so I'm just gonna sit back and watch shit go down... Case closed.

 

The biggest thing about Clever Devices is money - NYCT and MTA Bus run the biggest bus systems in the United States, and with stops every two blocks on most routes, setting up a system like that would be a lot of money, especially if CD charges an annual fee for data collection/storage in its contracts (as DC's NextBus system does). As much as I would love to see the MTA get the best of everything, a dollar less the MTA has to spend is a dollar less debt that my fares will have to pay the interest on. Not to mention, the MTA has a history of getting vendor-locked into terrible or outdated systems - Metrocard was obsolete the year it rolled out (smartcards had already been developed in Asia, and would soon make their way here and in Europe). With all the costs and burden that came with Metrocard and its maintenance, I don't think that the MTA would ever want to get into a situation like that again.

 

Even if BusTime has errors, the system will eventually get its kinks ironed out. That's the beauty of computer programming - while something is already running, you can continually update and change it without having to rip everything out and start all over again. Sure, it may not "look" good because it's designed by MTA interns, but this is an in-house system for MTA dispatchers and operators - no one cares if it's pretty. Not to mention, there's a pretty notable ageist bias against the interns because they're supposedly all young hipsters, but this doesn't take into account that computer programming is a constantly, rapidly changing field. The programming languages taught in colleges today are different from those five years ago, and will be different from those taught five years from now. BusTime may have had a rough start, but what technology has had a perfect rollout? It'll get better as time goes on.

 

That being said, will this actually reduce bunching? On my bus route, I'll be waiting for eight or nine minutes in the AM rush, and then two or three buses will come at the same time - and I'm at the terminal. If buses are leaving terminals already bunched, then BusTrek isn't going to do much.

[Cait Sith]

The biggest thing about Clever Devices is money - NYCT and MTA Bus run the biggest bus systems in the United States, and with stops every two blocks on most routes, setting up a system like that would be a lot of money, especially if CD charges an annual fee for data collection/storage in its contracts (as DC's NextBus system does). As much as I would love to see the MTA get the best of everything, a dollar less the MTA has to spend is a dollar less debt that my fares will have to pay the interest on. Not to mention, the MTA has a history of getting vendor-locked into terrible or outdated systems - Metrocard was obsolete the year it rolled out (smartcards had already been developed in Asia, and would soon make their way here and in Europe). With all the costs and burden that came with Metrocard and its maintenance, I don't think that the MTA would ever want to get into a situation like that again.

 

Lets not forget that

 

A. We don't get funded anymore by the government, the MTA is on its own.

B. We have a bus fleets well over 5,000 units. The amount of money to spend on Clever Devices would not be worth it in the long run.

[Orion VII 4 Life]

Lets not forget that

 

A. We don't get funded anymore by the government, the MTA is on its own.

B. We have a bus fleets well over 5,000 units. The amount of money to spend on Clever Devices would not be worth it in the long run.

That's not necessarily true at all...

 

You guys gotta remember that every other major transit system pays for the Clever Devices or a system like it. Had OpenPlans never been consulted or they not found the OneBusAway system, Clever Devices would have been awarded the contract for MTA BusTime as was originally planned when it was introduced on the M34/M16.

 

Now, with MTA BusTime in place for now and those Clever Devices computers still in place, I'd like to see the MTA install their automated announcement/LED interior sign system at least, especially in Manhattan and the airport routes. It can definitely work without CD BusTime, as WMATA uses it while NextBus runs the bus tracking system (though I heard that might change) as does LI Bus/NICE. B/O announcements can be mumbled, quick, and usually just non-existant, and the CD announcements would definitely help the tourists out who have no idea what they're doing like they did during the M34 pilot. Every stop or major stop (however MTA specs it) gets called out.

[Culver]

That's not necessarily true at all...

 

You guys gotta remember that every other major transit system pays for the Clever Devices or a system like it. Had OpenPlans never been consulted or they not found the OneBusAway system, Clever Devices would have been awarded the contract for MTA BusTime as was originally planned when it was introduced on the M34/M16.

 

Now, with MTA BusTime in place for now and those Clever Devices computers still in place, I'd like to see the MTA install their automated announcement/LED interior sign system at least, especially in Manhattan and the airport routes. It can definitely work without CD BusTime, as WMATA uses it while NextBus runs the bus tracking system (though I heard that might change) as does LI Bus/NICE. B/O announcements can be mumbled, quick, and usually just non-existant, and the CD announcements would definitely help the tourists out who have no idea what they're doing like they did during the M34 pilot. Every stop or major stop (however MTA specs it) gets called out.

I'd like to see that done if MTA's BusTime solution and CD stuff can co-exist. Announcements at major stops would definitely be useful on the airport routes and routes frequented by tourists.

[Orion VII 4 Life]

 

I'd like to see that done if MTA's BusTime solution and CD stuff can co-exist. Announcements at major stops would definitely be useful on the airport routes and routes frequented by tourists.

They already do coexist, Clever Devices runs the maintenance diagnostics system and the BusTime computer runs BusTime. I assume it's a similar setup in DC, there's a NextBus computer and a CD one. It's definitely possible, and at this point more possible than the MTA ditching MTA BusTime.

[Cait Sith]

That's not necessarily true at all...

 

You guys gotta remember that every other major transit system pays for the Clever Devices or a system like it. Had OpenPlans never been consulted or they not found the OneBusAway system, Clever Devices would have been awarded the contract for MTA BusTime as was originally planned when it was introduced on the M34/M16.

 

Now, with MTA BusTime in place for now and those Clever Devices computers still in place, I'd like to see the MTA install their automated announcement/LED interior sign system at least, especially in Manhattan and the airport routes. It can definitely work without CD BusTime, as WMATA uses it while NextBus runs the bus tracking system (though I heard that might change) as does LI Bus/NICE. B/O announcements can be mumbled, quick, and usually just non-existant, and the CD announcements would definitely help the tourists out who have no idea what they're doing like they did during the M34 pilot. Every stop or major stop (however MTA specs it) gets called out.

 

Except you fail to realize that every other transit system that has a system equivalent to that does not have the FLEET SIZE like ours....THATS where it matters...you also fail to realize that not everyone wants automated announcements and all that stuff...jesus, it's like you're married to a Clever Device. You're becoming the QJT of Clever Devices (lol)

 

To add onto this, we also had Clever Devices on the M15 years back, but was removed because last I heard, that was also screwing up a ton as well.