Palm Tran has implemented two new tools to assist riders planning their public transportation trips online using geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS) technology for computers or data plan-equipped smart phones. Google Transit and InfoPoint (from Avail Technologies) are online service products now available to passengers.
For trip planning, Palm Tran partnered with Google to include its information in Google Transit (www.google.com/transit). Passengers enter their starting and ending destination and departure or arrival time. Each Google Transit search request provides satellite images and user-friendly maps displayed beside a Palm Tran route itinerary.
Google Transit will provide up to three suggested trip plans, transfer instructions, and estimated arrival times. The service also provides estimates on walking time and monetary savings by choosing transit over driving. Google Transit can help a passenger plan a route on Palm Tran and connect to other Florida transit systems.
InfoPoint (www.pbcgov.com/infopoint) provides real-time bus information based on route, location and direction. The display screen will depict the street network, show actual bus locations, and other pertinent information. All customers need to do is select their route and then select a bus stop. The system is designed to show the next three scheduled trips and current on-time information for each at that bus stop.
Please visit http://www.pbcgov.com/palmtran/ for more information.