After months of waiting, PARTA has officially launched its GPS tracking feature, allowing passengers to track their bus in real time via phone or SMS.
The SPOT PARTA program was launched during a community event at the Kent Central Gateway on Wednesday afternoon.
“I know there are a lot of people who have asked for this and we are happy to finally be able to deliver,” said Claudia Amhrein, Managing Director of PARTA.
Amhrein launched the new system with a ceremony in the center's lobby, complete with SPOT PARTA giveaways, food and beverages, and a visit from Spot, the program's mascot.
The event also gave PARTA the opportunity to show drivers how they can use their new program.
PARTA Planning Director Katherine Manning used a tablet to show groups of participants the benefits of the SPOT PARTA program website, spotparta.com.
“Here’s your bus and you can track it anywhere,” Manning said as she pointed to the bus on her tablet.
The website uses GPS tracking data to display bus routes in real time on the online map, similar to the transportation phone app Uber.
It also provides information about the closest routes to a driver's location and a trip planner.
“We get a lot of complaints from students wanting to get to where their bus is or if they missed their bus,” Manning said. “This eliminates the age-old question 'Where is my bus?'”
Manning also discussed the program's text message system, which will allow users to text a special code found on SPOT PARTA signs to the phone number also found on those signs.
Passengers will then receive information via SMS about the approximate arrival of their bus.
“People are used to finding out information through their smartphones and computer desktops,” Amhrein said. “It's one thing to read a paper plan, but that can be a little difficult if you're new to the system. This allows direct access to people on their phones.”
Amhrein also emphasized that the program can be used on any type of phone with messaging functionality, including flip phones.
The event also garnered attention from several community guests, including WAKR's Jasen Sokol, who hosted his live show at the event, and Kent City Manager Dave Ruller.
Ruller spoke with Sokol on air about the many city projects around Kent and their importance to the city.
“PARTA is of course central in the truest sense of the word, as the name here on the gate says. They got us going and are keeping us going,” Ruller Sokol said during the interview.
Ruller said the bus service is important to the growing city and that he always takes time to give his support.
As PARTA's next step, the service will host additional promotional events for the SPOT PARTA program, including one at Kent State University.
“We hope that many students will try out the program and the text messaging feature and be able to use PARTA more efficiently,” Manning said.
The event will take place on October 18th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the KIVA student center
Mitch Felan is the security and transportation reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].
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