CTA

With CTA’s Bus Tracker system, a CTA commuter can go online and set up email or text alerts for specific times of the day and have bus arrival predictions automatically sent on a daily basis. Transit users looking to go to a specific destination can plan their CTA trip using real- time information at ctabustracker.com and eliminate their wait-time because they know exactly when the bus will arrive at their stop. People can easily walk up to a bus stop, send a text message using a number provided on the bus stop sign and find out how long they will have to wait before the bus will come.

No matter what type of technology you have, Bus Tracker is available. Developers have embraced the Bus Tracker API and new third party applications pop up everyday. CTA’s philosophy is that the data behind Bus Tracker should be accessible to everyone, helping make the decision to take public transportation in Chicago a no-brainer. Not only are they working on providing displays for their customers to view Bus Tracker, they have also taken their API and developed a DIY (do-it-yourself) display package and partnered up with different community organizations and schools so that they can provide easy access to Bus Tracker in building lobbies and storefronts.

CTA is arguably providing the most meaningful next-bus arrival information in the United States. The Bus Tracker application site receives, on average, 2 million visits a month and nearly 2 million texts a month. As the second largest mass transit provider in the US, CTA is delivering upwards of 98 percent accuracy regarding 2,000 running buses daily.