Logan may get computerized signs to show bus-wait times

Passengers at Logan International Airport could see new computerized signs by late next year that tell them how long they have to wait for an airport shuttle bus or a Logan Express coach.

The board of directors of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, yesterday approved a $1.9 million upgrade of a system used to dispatch taxicabs and limousines and collect fees they pay Massport to serve airport passengers.

Francis Anglin, Massport's information services director, said one appealing feature of the upgrade is that it also provides the underlying technology needed for message boards that would tell Logan passengers waiting outside the four terminals how many minutes until the next Massport shuttle bus or Logan Express coach to Braintree, Framingham, Peabody, or Woburn is expected to arrive.

The system would use transponders, like the Turnpike Authority Fast Lane toll-payment devices, mounted on buses that sense when they have passed points outside terminals. The waiting-time advisory system could also be used by rental car companies' shuttle buses and other public transportation vehicles serving Logan.

Anglin said installing the system is subject to Massport directors approving funding in a capital plan early next year.

"I'd like to shoot to get it in late fall 2008," Anglin said. "We'd really like to get it on the 22 and 33 buses" that take riders to the MBTA Airport Blue Line station. "We know that people get frustrated, especially when they come in late at night and they're waiting to get the bus to the T and after a long trip to Boston they don't know how long they're going to have to wait."

Peter J. Howe can be reached at howe@globe.com.