Rantings of a New Yorker

Manhattan now has New York City’s first real time bus information as a first step in equipping the city with smart bus stops.

Bloomberg and the MTA unveiled eight bus shelters with electronic countdown displays that tell riders just hour many minutes away their bus is.

“All 30 buses on the M34 and the M16 lines which serve some 17,000 daily passengers are already equipped with GPS locators including on-board cellular transmitters,” said Bloomberg.

Those transmitters send signals to the bus shelters every 30 seconds. It’s a six-month pilot program that won’t cost the city a dime.

If it’s successful, New Yorkers can start hoping that they will roll out the system on the subway as well.