Riders of Montgomery County’s Ride On buses can now track their rides in real time with a new mobile phone app and online tracking system, County Executive Ike Leggett announced Wednesday.
Called “Ride On Real Time,” the system uses a unique identification number assigned to each of the county’s 4,800 bus stops to locate passengers and predict when the next bus will arrive.
The app is available for free for iPhones and Android. The system is available online at RideOnRealTime.com, or users can text a bus stop ID number to [email protected]. Previously riders could get the same information only by calling Montgomery County’s 3-1-1 Call Center.
“Ride On Real Time takes the uncertainty out of using the bus,” Leggett said.
The announcement comes at a time when the county’s Department of Transportation lacks the number of bus drivers it needs to keep buses running on schedule, as department Director Arthur Holmes said last month.
Buses not showing up or arriving late also generated more than 3,000 complaints to the 3-1-1 Call Center between March and December of last year, according to CountyStat, the county’s data analysis arm.
