ASU students tired of waiting at bus stops wondering when their ride will come will soon be in luck.
Leona Morales, information specialist for ASU Parking and Transit Services, said ASU is in the process of creating an Internet bus-tracking system — driven by GPS technology — with Verizon Wireless.
"The new program will allow students, faculty and staff to pinpoint campus shuttles traveling along Tempe streets," Morales said. "Shuttles will be wired with a GPS tracking device, and commuters will have the opportunity to view the map online using a computer or a cell phone."
Jenny Weaver, spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, said Verizon has installed all of the necessary hardware and software; it's now up to ASU to implement the technology.
ASU University Technology Office spokesperson Jenny Lane said in an e-mail that she could not comment on the bus-tracking system at this time.
Josh Cohen, spokesman for TransLoc Inc., the company that established the Transit Visualization System, said he has not seen the ASU/Verizon system, but he is familiar with how the system operates on other college campuses.
The idea of a Web site showing each bus moving along their routes originated in 2004, Cohen said.
"A couple of computer science students at [North Carolina] State were waiting for the bus one day and it never showed up," he said. "They were like, 'This is ridiculous. There's got to be a better way to know about this.' So they started to figure out a way to provide it."
Cohen said, after those students graduated, they started TransLoc in 2005.
The visualization system is currently operating at six universities: Harvard, Yale, Emory, Alabama, Auburn and North Carolina State, Cohen said.
But business management junior Tyler Serbin said he didn't think his cell phone would be able to handle the technology.
He's not worried so much about late buses — in his experiences, Tempe buses are usually on time, Serbin said. A system that would alert riders about packed buses would be more helpful, he said.
"If a bus is full, I can't get on it and I have to wait another 15 minutes," Serbin said.
Psychology junior Sara Christenson said she liked the idea, but wouldn't spend any money on the technology.
"It would be nice to know," Christenson said. "I'd use it if I didn't have to pay for it."
Reach the reporter at: lauren.misak@asu.edu.
