Fraser Valley – BC Transit has completed a successful Negotiated Request for Proposals process and has signed a contract with Consat for the next phase of the NextRide program that will enhance customer experience and increase ridership throughout the province. The Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology will be installed in communities and regional transit systems across the province on approximately 315 buses operating on all conventional, fixed routes in British Columbia.
Fraser Valley Transit (Abbotsford/Mission) and Chilliwack will see this in the Spring.
NextRide technology will be installed across transit systems throughout British Columbia starting this month in the Cowichan Transit System. Two installation teams will work closely together in neighbouring or nearby communities as they move through the province to install the new technology on buses.
NextRide will continue to use AVL technology to allow even more customers to see real-time bus locations along routes and identify what predicted arrival times are at any selected stop. Onboard, automated stop announcements call out stops to customers riding the bus, which increases comfort and convenience, while also improves the overall accessibility for many using transit. Through BC Transit, it will provide bus location data to mobility providers like Google Maps and our partner Transit App, so our customers across the province can track and monitor bus routes using their application of choice.
The NextRide project is funded through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. This project is being cost shared with the Government of Canada contributing 50 per cent, the Province of British Columbia contributing 40 per cent and local government partners contributing the remaining 10 per cent. The project cost for NextRide being installed in these additional transit systems is nearly $6 million.
NextRide falls under BC Transit’s Smart Bus program, which introduces new technologies on buses that improve the customer experience, while also helping grow ridership by making transit more accessible, safer and enjoyable. This initiative aims to leverage recent technology advances to provide improved information for our customers and bus operators, while also providing greater flexibility, scalability, and value to BC Transit and its local government partners.
What is NextRide?
NextRide is a BC Transit initiative to install AVL technology on buses across the province. This technology already enables customers across seven transit systems on Vancouver Island, Squamish/Whistler and in the Interior to use web browsers and smart mobile devices to see the location of their bus along its route and its predicted arrival time at an identified stop. By downloading the Transit App, customers know exactly when their bus will arrive and allow them to see how full a bus is at any given time.
