App, website offer updated bus information

Commuters in the Triangle have a new tool to help them arrive on time. Triangle Transit, Raleigh's Capital Area Transit, Chapel Hill, Durham and North Carolina State University bus systems are all a part of a first-in-the-nation partnership with TransLoc to feed route and schedule information to digital platforms.

Bus riders no longer need to consult a sign at the bus stop. They can check the Web or download the Transloc Transit app to a smart phone and have updates at their fingertips.

Rishav Dey said he takes the bus from N.C. State to Chapel Hill every few days. He uses the app to know when he needs to get to the station.

"I always look at it so I know when to go to the bus stop because I don't want to wait outside for too long," Dey said.

Triangle Transit's Damien Graham said TransLoc gives riders more accurate information.

"It will allow you to have better use of your own time. You can see when the bus is coming," he said.

Even those with an older cellphone can get bus arrival times via text message.

The app is the first to link multiple transit systems in one place.

"Baltimore doesn't have it. San Francisco doesn't have it. New York doesn't have it. We have it," Graham said. "It's a great new thing for our community."

Dey said it makes for a more pleasant trip.

"The bus timings are not always consistent, so especially in the cold, you don't want to stand outside all the time," he said.

Triangle Transit used federal and state money to pay for the $1.5 million program.