Shuttle located by GPS

The wait for the Aggie Shuttle doesn’t have to be quite as long now that students have access to a GPS tracking system. Students can track the location of the shuttle online and, by fall semester, on cell phones.

As of Friday, the Aggie Shuttle is offering a live GPS map highlighting the location of the shuttles on their Web site, allowing dispatchers to see the location of buses and eliminating the time students spend waiting for the shuttle, said Justin Rees, USU graduate and president of Ride Systems, who designed the program.

“One of the biggest questions is, ‘Where is the bus?’ and this will allow students to actually get on and see right where it is,” Rees said. “The whole idea is to provide students and other riders with the ability to see where the buses are and not waste so much time waiting for them. It is one of the biggest problems for people using the bus.”

Students can track the shuttle by going to www.usu.edu/parking and navigating to the Aggie Shuttle Web site. Rees said the site is updated every 30 seconds.

Rees said he is working toward mobile access. By fall 2008, he said he hopes students will be able to track the shuttle with web-enabled cell phones and through text messages.

Rees said he is also pushing the shuttle system to hang monitors in buildings near bus stops. He said he would like to see monitors in places like the Taggart Student Center and the Veterinary Science Building. That way, he said, live maps would be available to everyone, and a computer or cell phone would not be required.

Alden Erickson, Aggie Shuttle supervisor, said these new services are being brought about because of customer needs and advancing technology. He said he is always looking for better ways to serve students and this, he said, is the way to do it.

“This is real customer service and is real pleasing to customers,” Erickson said.

Rees said Aggie Shuttle has been using hand-held tracking devices for four years. In the fall, USU moved to GPS, becoming the first university in the state to use it, Rees said.

“This is the first time it has happened on campus and it’s a beta test, a trial basically to get it working for students,” he said. “It is available but it is in testing, so if there are issues, we appreciate their patience but we think it will be very reliable.”

-arie.k@aggiemail.usu.edu