OC Transpo launches real-time info screens at four stops in pilot project

The city is testing a few solar-powered screens at four bus stops that track in real time when the bus is coming. CTV’s Tyler Fleming reports.

OC Transpo has launched a year-long pilot project to test real-time bus information screens aimed at giving riders up-to-the-minute departure times at major stops across the city.

The transit agency has installed the electronic ink displays at four locations; Eagleson Park and Ride, Bank Street at Somerset Street, the Civic Hospital on Carling Avenue, and Bayshore Mall on Woodridge Crescent.

Each screen displays a live list of approaching buses, showing route numbers, destinations, and countdowns to arrival. The information is generated from GPS units on OC Transpo buses. The data is processed in real time to predict arrivals and departures, the same information used in OC Transpo’s app-based and online travel planner, and phone services.

“I take transit all the time and I think it’s a fantastic idea,” says resident Stephan Berube. “And it’s handy, you can see it very clearly at night time and during the day. What I like most about it is its efficiency, using free power.”

The pilot aims to improve access to transit information for passengers who may not use smartphones or have data services.

“Honestly, it’s a good addition,” says transit commuter Richard Balaoing. “There have been many times where my phone is dead and that I couldn’t check on the bus coming or anything. This, it’s good to have.”

OC Transpo says the low-power e-ink displays are solar-powered to help keep operating costs down, which could make them easier to deploy at stops without wired electricity.

The four screens will also be observed during the winter months to see how they hold up against snow and frigid temperatures. The cost of the project has not been released, but is part of the city budget approved by council.

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“The transit information screens are really meant to give folks a real-time update as to when they can expect their bus,” says OC Transpo spokesperson Katrina Camposarcone-Stubbs. “And then if there’s changes [to a bus route], it gets updated instantly and we don’t have to worry about the papers [paper schedules posted at some stops] being updated or putting out signage out there.”

OC Transpo invites riders to share their experiences with the new displays and submit feedback through an online https://engage.ottawa.ca/bus-stop-transit-information-screen-pilot survey, or by scanning a QR at the stop, where they can comment on the screens readability, accuracy, and overall usefulness.

The city will use data from the project to determine whether the program should be expanded citywide, which transit riders, like Melissa Richards, would support.

“I really like this display board. All the stops should have them,” she says. “I’ve been looking at it for a few minutes, and I can see right now the bus is coming and it’s actually pretty accurate. And come winter time, that’s going to matter.”

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