UWinnipeg faculty, staff and students can now access transit information anytime, anywhere with a simple text from their cell phone. Winnipeg Transit has introduced `BUStxt’, a Short Message Service (SMS) that lets transit users get real-time Transit information on their mobile devices.
Transit customers can use texting features on their standard cell phones or web enabled `smart’ phones to find Transit stops nearest them, bus departure times at stops, or find out when the bus they are on will reach a location further along the route. BUStxt can be accessed at 287898 (bustxt). Standard text messaging rates may apply.
As SMS messages are limited to 138 characters, all messages are presented in a condensed form. BUStxt allows customers to access information using a variety of search commands and simple keywords. Within a short time of receiving a text message inquiry from a customer, BUStxt automatically returns service information based on the customer’s search parameters.
For example, a customer can send a message to BUStxt to:
• Find the stops closest to an address, intersection, or major landmark specified in the customer’s text message.
• Find the bus departure times for any of Winnipeg Transit’s 5,000 bus stops. The 5-digit bus stop ID number or the stop intersection (eg. `10171′ or `nb osborne@river’ for the stop at northbound Osborne@River) must be specified in the customer’s text message. BUSTxt will automatically reply with a message listing the departure time, route number and the destination of the bus (or buses) departing from that stop.
• Find information about the service of a bus they are riding on. For example, passengers can find out when the bus they are currently riding on will reach a specific location on its route, which can helpful when passengers are planning to transfer to another bus.
BUStxt returns `real-time’ information based on schedule updates automatically reported to the Transit Control Centre by the GPS-equipped iBUS technology recently installed on the Winnipeg Transit fleet.
Complete instructions on how to use BUStxt are available on-line at http://myride.winnipegtransit.com/en/ Condensed instructions can also be obtained by sending the text message “HELP” to 287898 (bustxt).
