Tag Archives: buses

Want to track your bus in real time? Your phone knows where it is

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routeshout

Green Mountain Transit (former Chittenden County Transit Authority, which merged a while back with Green Mountain Transit Authority in central Vermont) has just introduced a new feature: using their app on your smartphone, you can track your bus in real time. Wondering if your bus is going to be late? Need to figure out when the next bus will depart from your stop? Check out GMT’s announcement, below:

Green Mountain Transit has introduced the new RouteShout 2.0 mobile app. You won’t ever have to wonder where your bus is again!

Download our new RouteShout 2.0 mobile app. Plan your commute, set reminders, and receive notifications. The RouteShout 2.0 app gives you access to manage your commute so you can enjoy peace of mind.

Features:

• Know when your next bus is arriving.
• Plan trips with ease.
• See exactly where your bus is on the map in real-time.
• See banner alerts right in the app.

To view RouteShout 2.0 on your compute r or device: http://ridegmt.com/download-routeshout-here/.

The mission of GMT is to promote and operate safe, convenient, accessible, innovative and sustainable public transportation services in the northwest and central Vermont regions, that reduces congestion and pollution, encourages transit oriented development and enhances the quality of life for all.

Vermont and All-Electric Buses

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By now you’ve probably heard of electric cars, but have you heard about electric buses? They have all of the advantages of good electric cars in a larger size. For example, they’re very quiet, don’t put out any exhaust, have a low carbon footprint, and require much less maintenance than an ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle.

Drive Electric Vermont today shared a photo of an electric bus visiting UVM. Take a look:

Proterra electric bus

We regularly buy school buses for the Chittenden South School District and CVU. While electric buses currently cost more than ICE buses, they pay for their extra costs with fuel, maintenance, and repair savings, and once they’ve done that they start saving money for taxpayers. Proterra buses are one option; another is Nova Bus in nearby Quebec. Maybe we here in Williston should get ahead of the curve and start thinking about what environmental and budget savings are in our reach if we opt for this quieter, cleaner type of transportation for our kids.

 

Goodbye, CCTA!

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Here’s an announcement about some great new developments in Vermont public transit from CCTA and GMTA. My favorite is the new feature that will allow finding out exactly where a bus is using your cell phone.

The new CCTA transit center in Burlington, opening in the Fall

The new CCTA transit center in Burlington, opening this Fall

In the coming months, the Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA) and the Green Mountain Transit Agency (GMTA) will rebrand to become Green Mountain Transit (GMT). In July 2011, GMTA and CCTA became one legal entity, which formalized the operating relationship between the two agencies that had existed since 2003. The rebrand marks an exciting time and will finalize the last step in becoming one unified regional agency.

In conjunction with the rebranding effort, CCTA will roll out a suite of new technologies to improve the customer experience, starting with a new Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system. AVL will provide passengers with real-time bus tracking information straight to their cellphones, improving service reliability and allowing CCTA to communicate changes more efficiently. This highly sought after system has been a high priority for CCTA and its passengers for quite some time. The ability to move forward with this project is due, in large part, to funding provided by the VT Agency of Transportation. “VTrans has been an incredible partner to CCTA and all of the communities that it serves. I think they are as excited about these improvements as we are!” says Karen Walton, General Manager of CCTA

On Tuesday, January 19, the CCTA Board of Commissioners also approved a recommendation from staff to go out to bid for a mobile ticketing system. A mobile ticketing app would allow passengers to purchase fare media directly on their cellphones prior to taking their bus trip. This app will provide convenience for the riders, eliminates the need to carry exact cash fare, and is one step closer to making CCTA/GMTA a paperless system.

These passenger amenities are expected to be implemented during this calendar year before or in conjunction with the highly anticipated Downtown Transit Center (DTC) grand opening. The new state-of-the-art transit center is expected to be complete in the fall of 2016. To track progress on this, and all upcoming projects, visit our website at CCTAride.org.

About CCTA/GMTA: Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA) offers fixed routes, local commuter routes, LINK Express routes, and ADA paratransit services. CCTA also provides shuttles from senior housing complexes to local supermarkets and neighborhood specials for student transportation to Burlington schools. Green Mountain Transportation Agency (GMTA) provides public transportation for Washington, Lamoille, Mad River Valley, Franklin and Grand Isle Counties and the towns of Williamstown, Washington and Orange, with connecting services to Chittenden and Caledonia counties.

Transportation Is a Matter of Life and Death: Alternative Transportation Roundtable Monday 8/24

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WalkToSchool

What will they say about our transportation decisions in ten or twenty years? With three Vermont bicyclist deaths this year, many Williston children not being able to safely walk or ride to school, and bus routes only beginning to connect Williston residents with jobs and surrounding communities, we can either bet on more cars, more carbon, more traffic, more pollution, and more danger to bicyclists and pedestrians, or get behind alternative transportation in a big way.

Join experts on alternative transportation, from buses to electric vehicles to bike paths to ride sharing, for a roundtable discussion of the what, why, how, and how much of alternative transportation in Williston. Learn about changes to bus service; new electric cars with longer range; and what it takes to get bike and pedestrian paths where we need them most. This free event in Sustainable Williston’s Sustainable Energy  series takes place at the Dorothy Alling Library Monday evening, August 24th, at 7:00 to 8:30 pm [THIS IS A CORRECTION: WE ERRONEOUSLY HAD PREVIOUSLY LISTED THE EVENT AS BEING FROM 6:30 to 8:00]. Come to ask questions and offer ideas or to learn from representatives of organizations tentatively to include Go! Vermont, CCTA, Drive Electric Vermont, Local Motion, and the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission. We’ll have refreshments available. For more information, get in touch through our contact page.

Transcend Your Car: Way to Go! Vermont Starts May 4th

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Way to Go! Vermont

Way to Go! Vermont is a carbon cutting challenge that encourages New Englanders to save by biking, walking, carpooling, working from home, or riding the bus, created by a group of more than 25 partner organizations throughout Vermont.

You can sign up to participate as an individual, team, business, or school. It’s a great opportunity to explore your options and push the envelope to find better and more sustainable ways to get around.

For example, did you know about the program that offers free commuter protection when you take a bus or carpool to work? If you need to get home unexpectedly–because of a sick family member or an emergency, for instance–the program will pay for you to get there, even if you have to take a taxi.

Vermont is a challenging place to get around car use, but we have some surprising and inspiring tools to get the job done. Sign up for Way to Go! Vermont and bring more of them into your travel toolbox.

Feb Meeting Notes, and Next Meeting Scheduled for Wed 3/19

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Sustainable Williston met February 19th at the Dorothy Alling Library in Williston. We had two special guests for this meeting. First, Zuhair Chaudhry, a CVU high school student and CVU Environmental Action Club member who has made great progress with carpooling spoke with us about CVU bus ridership. Our emphasis until now has been on helping successfully restart the late bus program while ensuring good ridership, but it has expanded now to consider the question of bus ridership at CVU in general. We’re still working on this issue; get in touch if you’re interested in being part of it or would like more information.

CVU

Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) Outreach Coordinator Michele Morris joined us to provide information and recommendations on the question of reducing plastic waste. Sustainable Williston members are hoping to help phase out dishes and to volunteer time to assist with recycling and composting at some local events. Michele had some intriguing additional ideas and important insights. We also discussed Vermont’s upcoming universal recycling program and ways Williston can encourage better recycling and composting for residents and businesses.

cswdlogo

Sustainable Williston member Marie-Claude Beaudette provided an update on our Birth Trees project, in which we’re partnering with the town and local business to (if all goes well) donate a tree to each Williston family into which a child is born or adopted. In its current form, it looks like the program will offer the option of either having the tree planted in a public place or given to the family to be planted at their home, though the details are still being worked out.

trees

We’ll discuss these and other projects and topics at our next meeting, Wednesday, March 19th at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, upstairs.

We’re also talking about having more informal get-togethers from time to time. If you’re interested in any of the above topics, in attending formal meetings, or in being in the loop for get-togethers, please use the contact form and ask to be added to our e-mail discussion and announcement list.