SEPTA Launches New Real-Time Alert System Get

SEPTA last week launched a trio of new Web- and text-based features that give bus and trolley riders real-time travel updates and new options for accessing schedules.

TransitView—the real-time bus and trolley information resource—is complemented by other SEPTA initiatives that add schedule delivery via text message and expand the data available through SEPTA’s mobile website.

“These initiatives are playing a major role in our overall efforts to improve customer service,” said SEPTA General Manager Joseph M. Casey in a release. “We are getting customers the information they need and giving it to them when and where they need it.”

With TransitView, customers can, for the first time, access real-time travel information for all bus and trolley routes. By simply entering a route number and stop location, customers will see a map displaying the last known locations of buses and trolleys.

SEPTA is able to relay this information to customers thanks to the installation of GPS devices on the vehicles, and a successful recent undertaking of geomapping for all of SEPTA’s more than 15,000 bus and trolley stops.

The two additional new features expand customers’ options to get schedules, particularly those who need the information quick and on-the-go.

SMS Schedules allows riders with any text-enabled cell phone to access trip information. By simply texting “SEPTA” and the Bus Stop ID to 41411, customers will receive a text message detailing the next four scheduled trips from their stop.

Another new program, Schedules To Go, expands offerings on SEPTA’s mobile website, enabling customers to get stop-specific information for the next 10 trips.

For more information, visit SEPTA’s website. Links to TransitView, SMS Schedules and Schedules To Go are prominently displayed on the homepage.