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 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.