2008 Woodie Awards
Shuttle tracking means less wait
Kelsey Hinton
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
Hate missing the shuttle? A new system called TransLoc is working to fix that.
Using global positioning devices that track the real-time location of vehicles, riders can view the exact location of their bus on the TransLoc Web site.
Wait-weary students are already enjoying the system at Auburn University, Emory University, Harvard University, North Carolina State University, University of Alabama and Yale University.
The University of Maryland is also in the process of rigging their fleet of shuttles, and the University of Florida is scheduled to be up and running by April. However, the arrival of TransLoc on the UCF campus may be hampered by cost.
Josh Cohen, a business developer for TransLoc, said the founders of the company got the idea after their bus failed to arrive one day.
"They left the bus stop, and they found out later there was reduced service that day," Cohen said. "They said, 'There's got to be a better way to do this,' and that's kind of what created this system."
According to the company's Web site, TransLoc helps riders "save time, stay safe and have more control over their schedules while enabling transit administrators to manage their fleets with unprecedented clarity."
Cohen said the tracker allows students to stay indoors during bad weather and at night when safety is a concern. He also said the highly visited site is a useful communication tool between students and administration during emergencies.
UCF Student Government Association Transportation Coordinator Seth Green has been working with Cohen to determine the possibility of implementing TransLoc at UCF.
"[Students] really are wasting a lot of time waiting for these buses. … Sometimes you can be waiting up to 30 minutes, depending what time you ride the shuttle," said Green, who said the shuttle system services 15 locations within two miles of campus.
Green said if the shuttle system were more appealing to students, ridership would increase and free up parking spots on campus, helping alleviate parking problems.
Using global positioning devices that track the real-time location of vehicles, riders can view the exact location of their bus on the TransLoc Web site.
Wait-weary students are already enjoying the system at Auburn University, Emory University, Harvard University, North Carolina State University, University of Alabama and Yale University.
The University of Maryland is also in the process of rigging their fleet of shuttles, and the University of Florida is scheduled to be up and running by April. However, the arrival of TransLoc on the UCF campus may be hampered by cost.
Josh Cohen, a business developer for TransLoc, said the founders of the company got the idea after their bus failed to arrive one day.
"They left the bus stop, and they found out later there was reduced service that day," Cohen said. "They said, 'There's got to be a better way to do this,' and that's kind of what created this system."
According to the company's Web site, TransLoc helps riders "save time, stay safe and have more control over their schedules while enabling transit administrators to manage their fleets with unprecedented clarity."
Cohen said the tracker allows students to stay indoors during bad weather and at night when safety is a concern. He also said the highly visited site is a useful communication tool between students and administration during emergencies.
UCF Student Government Association Transportation Coordinator Seth Green has been working with Cohen to determine the possibility of implementing TransLoc at UCF.
"[Students] really are wasting a lot of time waiting for these buses. … Sometimes you can be waiting up to 30 minutes, depending what time you ride the shuttle," said Green, who said the shuttle system services 15 locations within two miles of campus.
Green said if the shuttle system were more appealing to students, ridership would increase and free up parking spots on campus, helping alleviate parking problems.