PAT ridership (Liberty: apartment complexes, moving, vehicles)

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by GeneW

I've started using the Transit app which incorporates the real-time info for PAT. There are versions for both Android and iPhones.

Really? I thought it was just using the schedules. I have version 2.5.7.

Okay, I am looking at the 71A(on the map in Transit), and I see two buses, one downtown and one at Centre and Negley. the PAAC page shows a bus downtown and two buses, one in each direction, at Center and Negley, as does the PAT Real Time Tracker.

That's kind of disappointing, as I had been using Transit for a while, just for the sake of the schedules.

[pman]

As of the third quarter 2014 bus ridership had started growing again for pat with declines in light rail ridership, the mirror opposite of the nation as a whole. One would suspect real Time transit on buses to drive ridership there
http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf

[szug-bot]

Sorry as I have not been paying attention to this thread.

But are those bus tracking things accurate? Could you literally find on the app that the bus is at Fifth and Sixth Avenue - as an ESTIMATE, or do you see its real time location?

I think that is the first thing that would make a costly i-phone worth it for me.

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

Sorry as I have not been paying attention to this thread.

But are those bus tracking things accurate? Could you literally find on the app that the bus is at Fifth and Sixth Avenue - as an ESTIMATE, or do you see its real time location?

I think that is the first thing that would make a costly i-phone worth it for me.

Supposedly, the apps are using the Port Authority's information (so the old buses that don't have GPS aren't listed). See this page: Mobile Apps
The apps that are highlighted in yellow are using the real-time information.

On the other hand, some of the apps are being developed by individuals (recently seen on another forum: PGH Next Bus ). Seems like there are more for Android, due to ease of entry to the Google Play store.

It seems to me that no one app or website has everything I would like to see, I might have to teach myself how to create apps and make one for myself.

[theta_sigma]

The Transit app is generally pretty reliabe for real-time estimates and sometimes will also give you a map showing you where the bus actually is. Sometimes it doesn't. It's a mystery to me why it sometimes does and someitmes doesn't and I don't know if it's my own phone just not downloading the data or what. None of these things are going to tell you to the second when your bus is going to get to exactly where you are, but they have been pretty accurate for me within a couple of minutes. They're really improved my bus-riding experience a lot since I'm Pitt staff and get free rides and sort of use the buses around Oakland and Squirrel Hill as a trolly system. I could walk it, but if there's a bus coming within a minute or two, I'd just as soon take that.

[Blackbeauty212]

I find Tiramisu App to be Awesome.... It gives Real Time Estimates when available and Scheduled time as a fall back when not.

Remember there are Caveats that will create large Gaps in service on the Tracker.... Not all buses have GPS installed.... The newer 6000's don't all have working equipment yet. The older Shorter Buses (1500's) and the Coach Style Buses (1900's) didn't get GPS because they're on deaths door step.

Also I read in the PG that supposedly Drivers can manipulate the Tracking so that their bus doesn't show up on it. Don't know why PAT would allow user manipulations like that, seems like all that should be controlled at the NOC.

[ferraris]

I generally use the Transit App, but the PAT RealTime tracker app is the best for seeing where the bus is. It doesn't give estimates of when it will arrive, but it often shows the location even when Transit does not.

[captainmidnight]

Good news: Port Authority says interest high for free-fare zone sponsorship | TribLIVE

Interesting that PAT has received lucrative offers to sell the naming rights of Allegheny Station. If they renewed their terms with the Steelers for advertising there, then PAT can't sell the naming rights. Hmm

[Blackbeauty212]

If we have all this interest, then why can Station Square be made part of the Free Fare Zone..... It really would complete the puzzle... even sell the naming of Station Square if need be.

SEPTA has sold 2 station naming rights ... PAT needs to sell Marketing/Ads were ever possible, this is the part that makes me scratch my head. PAT always crying "We're Soooooooo Broke", but they don't sell ad space like they should... Buses ride around with No Ads, T Stations have tons of Ad potential ... SEPTA and MTA (NYC) would be maximizing ads in all these spaces.

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

If we have all this interest, then why can Station Square be made part of the Free Fare Zone..... It really would complete the puzzle... even sell the naming of Station Square if need be.

SEPTA has sold 2 station naming rights ... PAT needs to sell Marketing/Ads were ever possible, this is the part that makes me scratch my head. PAT always crying "We're Soooooooo Broke", but they don't sell ad space like they should... Buses ride around with No Ads, T Stations have tons of Ad potential ... SEPTA and MTA (NYC) would be maximizing ads in all these spaces.

Yeah, what is up with that? Aside from a couple of wrapped buses, and that air conditioning company with the "your wife is hot campaign" this summer, I don't recall many ads on the buses recently, and the ones I do see are for, say, events that have already happened. Inside the buses, just recruitment for studies, homeland security paranoia and that weird marriage counseling cartoon. Maybe the Port Authority can't afford a sales and marketing department.