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MWRTA official Geoff Dalphonse notes the device that helps riders track their bus's location online. (Mark Wilson/Globe Staff) |
On weekday mornings, environmental lawyer Michael Ernst rides the commuter train from Westborough to South Station in Boston. The train, he said, is often late. But usually, one of his fellow stranded passengers will help him cope.
"Somebody will look up the MBTA website on their PDA and find out about the delay," said Ernst, referring to a handheld personal digital assistant, like a BlackBerry, that allows mobile access to the Internet. Knowing why a train is late, and how long it might be delayed, is better than standing there clueless, he said.
Ernst's experience is a taste of what officials say is the likely future of commuting in the suburbs: more drivers and riders using PDAs and cellphones to find real-time updates on the quickest routes to their destinations.
Within the next month, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is expected to launch T-Alerts, a free service that will send text messages about delays and service changes to subscribers' cellphones. Earlier this winter, the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority unveiled a service that allows riders to pinpoint the location of their buses over the Internet. And the state Highway Department re cently inaugurated its 511 system, which allows drivers on the Mass. Pike, interstate highways and other major roads to call for updated travel conditions.
Ernst said he may subscribe to T-Alerts. He spends 15 minutes driving from his home in Shrewsbury to the Westborough train station and then, morning after morning, waits for a late train, he said. "If I had an early alert that a train was really late," said Ernst, "I would drive."
The service will be especially easy in the western suburbs with the rollout this week of a pilot program, offered only on the Framingham/Worcester commuter line, that will make wireless Internet access available on at least one passenger coach on every train, the MBTA announced.
The MBTA is studying feedback from 3,200 commuters who signed up for T-Alerts last year during a test period to help officials iron out kinks in the system, said Kris Erikson, deputy chief of the staff at the T. That research is expected to be completed in the next few weeks, Erikson said, and then the MBTA will open the program to all commuters. The system costs around $43,000 a year to operate, he said, a nominal price for an innovation that could ease people's commutes and increase their productivity - not to mention satisfaction with the T.
"What a difference it makes if people know if a train is 10 minutes away," Erikson said. "Instead of rushing out and spilling coffee all over yourself, maybe you have a little extra time."
T-Alerts have their complications, said Erikson. For example, while signing up for the service is free, some cellphone companies charge fees for incoming text messages, he said.
Also, the system provides passengers with news for blocks of trains running in various time periods, such as morning, afternoon, and evening. Many riders in the pilot program said they wanted their alerts tailored to provide updates only about the specific trains they ride, Erikson said.
"They never take the 6:30 train, so they don't care," he said. "They only want, say, the 7:30 and the 8:05."
Would-be passengers on the MetroWest transit authority's buses can already obtain more specific detail for their commutes. Established last year and now serving Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick, Sherborn, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston, the MWRTA last month launched a network that uses global-positioning devices in ordinary mobile phones to track buses as they travel along their routes, said Ed Carr, the authority's administrator.
The phones, which are hard-wired to the vehicles, send signals that register their positions on an online road atlas.
If commuters know their own location and have a device that lets them access the Internet, they can see whether their ride is nearby or has already passed their stop.
"If it's raining out, you know where the bus is," Carr said. "Obviously, you're not going to be standing out there if you know the bus is not coming."
The website is updated every five seconds, giving viewers fresh images of the buses' movements. Users can zoom in to see details such as the name of the cross street their bus is passing. They can also switch the map to a photographic image, taken from a satellite, that shows houses, stores, parking lots, and trees.
"It would be great for people planning trips," said Bridgewater State College professor Lawrence Harman, who developed the system for the MWRTA. "What side of the mall are you? What side of the hospital? For those sorts of questions, this would be very helpful."
Carr said the GPS system was too new for him to determine how many riders use it, but he predicted it would become a model for other transportation authorities as commuters become familiar with it and realize its potential. The system cost the authority only a few thousand dollars, because it was created at Bridgewater State's GeoGraphics Lab and uses maps and GPS systems provided free by Google and
The system would also save the authority money over time, said Carr, because it allows MWRTA dispatchers to control buses more effectively.
"We can see where things are and, in case of emergencies, move things around," he said. "Not only can we contact the drivers, but we know exactly where they are."
Commuters who drive on the state's highways can also use their phones to avoid snags. Since October, MassHighway has been operating the 511 "traveler information number," a message system that lists traffic and weather conditions on roads across metropolitan Boston.
Callers using 511 must navigate a phone tree that might seem laborious to first-time users. The system uses audio menus that ask callers to press specific numbers to hear news about a particular section of highway, for example. But Mass. Turnpike Authority spokesman Mac Daniel said 511 - an expanded version of the SmarTraveler service - is popular, with around 575,000 drivers dialing it every month.
Daniel said the best way to help commuters would be to improve and expand the state's infrastructure significantly. Until that happens, however, congestion is likely to grow worse, he said, and taking full advantage of convenient technologies might be the best option for easing the daily grind.
"Until we come up with a solution, this real-time information is probably the best way to manage traffic flow," said Daniel. "If we can alert people there is a jam ahead and they have the luxury to delay their trip until the jam has passed, then we've done a public good and saved people a lot of stress."
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
