It was a record year for Metro Transit’s NexTrip system, which provides customers with real-time predicted bus and rail departures. Customers requested NexTrip information online more than 49.2 million times in 2013, up from about 30 million requests in 2012.
Customers can enter the individual stop number or choose a route, direction of travel and stop location to see the predicted departure times for upcoming trips. Regional buses and Northstar trains are equipped with GPS technology that tracks their locations and feed NexTrip information in real-time. NexTrip will also be available for the high-frequency METRO Blue and Green light-rail lines this year.
Customers can access NexTrip online at metrotransit.org and on Metro Transit’s mobile website, metrotransit.org/mobile.
Customers also accessed NexTrip by phone 2.2 million times in 2013 by calling 612-373-3333, option 1. Electronic signs at a number of Park & Rides, Transit Centers and along the Marq2 express bus corridor in downtown Minneapolis also display NexTrip information.
NexTrip’s popularity is just one example of the growing demand for transit information.
Metro Transit’s online Trip Planner also had a record year, with more than 7 million trips planned in 2013. The monthly record was set in September with 657,458 trips planned.
Representatives at the Transit Information Center meanwhile handled more than 1.2 million calls, the third-highest year total ever. The Transit Information had its two busiest days ever on Black Friday and New Year's Eve.
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