Hey, CAT buses have Online GPS Tracking too, Just Not as Fancy
We mentioned in a the previous article that it would be nice to have the same GPS location online system set up for the CAT buses that the R-line now has. No sooner did we mention these words did we receive an email stating that indeed the CAT system now has a real-time tracking website as well.
While this site isn’t as smooth and sleek as the one for the R-line, it does have to cover almost 40 bus routes. You can filter routes, get pop-up alerts when your bus is at a certain spot (your browser must be open, running the real-time simulator) and see all of the buses move in 10-15 second increments. You can also scroll over a “moving” bus and get all the information on it’s location and next arrival point.
I would compare the R-line site to an Apple computer and the CAT online system to a PC. One driven by sleek design and usability, the other guided by the structured organization of a large amount of data. The CAT real-time site is a bit cumbersome, but it is a good first pass at an online (free) collection of the bus system. A few other services including text message alerts and color coding of the buses relative to their routes would be nice for future iterations.
Check out the real-time CAT bus tracker out here.
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Kevin
02/10 12:27 PM
I disagree, this CAT bus tracker has a lot more to offer than the R-Line page. Details about every stop, bus, and route. Plus, it uses Google Maps, so you can do all the stuff you’re use to with Google (Satellite, etc). I like using a map I’m familiar with.
If you select a single bus on the CAT bus tracker, it becomes far easier to read, showing the actual route, and only the relevant buses/stops.
That’s fancy.
The R-Line just displays a moving black dot on a map. And worst of all, it uses Flash to do it.
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Dan
02/10 02:11 PM
Is there a way to see this on my iphone? It would be nice to know where the bus is while I am at the bus stop.
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Chad
02/10 04:40 PM
Still not very much help when you’re standing at a stop in the rain without a robot.
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Bill M
02/10 08:30 PM
I’ve been wanting this for a long time. Improvement wishlist: 1. Make it more iPhone compatible and 2. SMS alerts instead of browser alerts. The SMS alerts would seem to be something they could do thru Google.
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Betsy
02/11 01:18 PM
The Wolfline tracking system is better than either the R-Line or CAT trackers:
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Elphaba
02/13 12:12 PM
I also think it’s cool that CAT uses a product from Digital Recorders for they’re vehicle locator/real time system. Digital Recorders is a local(ish) company (they’re headquartered in Durham) and even though CAT had to get bids for the system, I’m glad a NC company got the job.
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Betsy
02/13 05:48 PM
Heck, they could have had a RALEIGH company if they had used Transloc, as Wolfline did.
Also, then CAT would also have an ACTUAL real-time tracker instead of just an animation simulating the movement between points.
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Chris McGarvey
02/14 05:53 PM
I agree with Betsy. I used the Wolfine tracking system when I was going to NCSU and it was awesome! This CAT tracker updates way too infrequently, the user interface is not intuitive, and forget about using it on your mobile phone. The Transloc system Wolfline provides updates in real-time – you can actually see the buses move every second (including on your smart phone). Why would CAT choose such a primitive system when there is a much better system available?
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