Real-time bus locations now available on MyDART Trip Planner

The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority has begun publishing online the real-time locations of its buses, which now gives people a greater level of information about bus service in the Des Moines area.

The real-time information is available through three online tools:

• MyDART Trip Planner, an online trip-planning tool, launched in October, 2013, which now includes the “Next DART Bus” feature. It gives users the estimated arrival and departure times of their buses based on the buses’ GPS positions. This tool is available on mobile and desktop devices.
• MyDART Real-Time Map, an online map letting riders monitor buses en route in real time. A color-coding system lets people see if buses are early, late or on time. Users can also select any bus stop on the map for departure and arrival times for the next three buses. Available on desktop devices only.
• MyDART Alerts, an e-mail notification program. To use this tool, people can register at ridedart.com with their e-mail address, bus routes or stops and travel times. Based on their settings, people will receive e-mail alerts five to 15 minutes before their desired trip times with the next three available bus trips. Available on mobile and desktop devices.
  

DART General Manager Elizabeth Presutti said that, as technology advances, so do people’s expectations for the level of information about their transit service. DART aims to meet these rising demands with the release of real-time information. She noted this will be the first-large scale test of the new technology and invited public feedback for ongoing improvement. Passengers will ”be able to see where the bus is, in real time,” she said.

The real-time information benefits current riders, who will have better information to plan their trips, Presutti said. ”But it’s also important for attracting potential new riders who are anxious about waiting for a bus at a bus stop, giving them a new degree of confidence that the bus will in fact be there to pick them up,” she added.

The technology advances at DART are part of a larger improvement of public transit service in the Des Moines area, which also include the opening of the DART Central Station in downtown Des Moines and the redesign and the expansion of the bus route network throughout the Des Moines area.

The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority is the public transportation provider which serves Polk County. DART operates a family of transportation services which making getting around the Des Moines area easier and more convenient. For more information about DART services, schedules, route changes or directions to the nearest DART stop, people should visit the DART website at www.ridedart.com or call 515-283-8100. The MyDART tools and MyDART Trip Planner are now available at www.ridedart.com.