The replacement of the NextRide technology that helps provide increased certainty, convenience and bus predictability for transit customers is now complete for the Regional District of Nanaimo Transit System.
New Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) hardware was installed on 59 buses in the Regional District of Nanaimo Transit System, improving reliability for transit customers. With this replacement, riders continue to have the convenience of using smart mobile devices and desktop services to see the real-time location of their bus along its route and its predicted arrival time at an identified stop.
The technology allows BC Transit to manage on-road incidents more effectively and to push out alerts more readily to customers in the case of detours, accidents or other events that may delay regular routing.
Riders are also benefiting from new digital full-colour passenger information displays inside the buses that offer trip information to passengers including multiple upcoming stops, current route, and service alerts.
Customers are advised that the NextRide desktop trip planning tool is no longer available. Customers wanting to plan their trip should use the BC Transit website and other real-time trip planning applications such as:
-
Google Maps (desktop and mobile);
-
their own favourite trip planning app;
-
or refer to the rider’s guide.
By downloading the Transit App, customers know exactly when their bus will arrive and allow them to see how full a bus is at any given time. This spring, BC Transit also started providing riders with free subscriptions to Transit Royale, an upgrade to the existing version of the Transit app, which now provides a wider geographical range for real-time bus tracking, a view of the full transit schedule instead of just short-term departures and fun, interactive features to make the transit journey more enjoyable.
The NextRide Technology replacement is funded through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. This project is being cost shared with the Government of Canada contributing 50 per cent, the Province of British Columbia contributing 40 per cent and local government partners contributing the remaining 10 per cent. The cost for the entire project is $16.8 million.
NextRide falls under BC Transit’s Smart Bus program, which introduces new technologies on buses that improve the customer experience, while also helping grow ridership by making transit more accessible, safer and enjoyable. This initiative aims to leverage recent technology advances to provide improved information for our customers and bus operators, while also providing greater flexibility, scalability, and value to BC Transit and its local government partners.
For more information visit https://www.bctransit.com/nanaimo/home
Media Contacts
BC Transit Communications
media@bctransit.com
