LTC 201-2014 "Next Bus" Movile App for Real-Time Tracking of the South Beach Local MIAMI BEACH
LETTER TO COMMISSION
201-2014
TO: Mayor Philip Levine and Members of t e City Co Lission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: June 10, 2014
SUBJECT: "NEXT BUS" MOBILE APP FOR R AL-TIME TRACKING OF THE SOUTH BEACH
LOCAL
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide a status update on the installation of new
modems on the South Beach Local (SBL) buses and the enhancement that this represents in regards to
providing users with real-time tracking information.
Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) has finalized the installation and configuration of eleven (11) modems that
were procured by the City and provided to the County for installation on all SBL buses. The modems
will allow for the existing GPS units in the buses to report exact location at a rate considered "real time",
more specifically every five (5) seconds. Previously, this feature had only been available for MDT's
Route 288 "Kendall Cruiser" and Metrorail service.
Although the SBL schedule and route have been available for some time through MDT's free mobile
application for both (phone and Android smart phones as well as on the County's website, the
Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) information provided was based exclusively on a schedule (not taking
into account the vehicle's location). As a result of the modems recently installed, the SBL ETA is now
based on real time vehicle location.
To download MDT's free mobile application, the user may go to the application store on any smart
phone and search for MDT Tracker or Miami-Dade Transit. The user may open the application and
select the Bus Tracker option followed by the "Route 123 South Beach Local" option. The user will then
be asked to select a direction and a specific stop location. Once a stop is selected, the ETA, bus
number, and destination will be updated. An arrow icon corresponding to the bus number may be
selected if a user wishes to visually identify the location of bus in relation to the selected stop. This
feature will show icons of the buses hovering along the route. The SBL bus icons on the map are
labeled "CW" for Clockwise and "CCW" for Counter Clockwise. When a stop is selected under the Map
View option, a box will appear displaying information on the ETA of the next two (2) buses and
connecting bus routes at that particular stop. A screenshot of MDT's SBL Tracker webpage has been
attached for your reference.
It is important to note that although the tracking capability of the mobile app service allows the user to
obtain real time ETA based on the selected stop location, the system displays the scheduled times for
the buses, as a default, when real time ETAs are not available. As such, whenever the signal of the
tracking unit is lost or during layovers, a scheduled time will replace the ETA in the display box of the
mobile app.
City staff has identified potential opportunities to further improve the reliability of the mobile app and is
working with the County to implement the changes. A quick link to the SBL Tracker has been added to
the Transportation Department's webpage and is available on the City's mobile app page.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
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Attachment: Screenshot of MDT's SBL Tracker Webpage
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:\TRAN\$ALL\Transportation\South Beach Local\LTC—South Beach Local Modems Update
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ATTACHMENT(SCREENSHOT OF MDT'S SOUTH BEACH LOCAL TRACKER WEBPAGE)
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Bus Tracker
At this time,the new bus tracking service only hacks the real-time arrival tines of
the Route 288 Kendall Cruiser and the Route 123 South Beach Local- . 3
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To view the arrival times,scroll down the drop-down menu below and select your
< route,direction of travel,then your bus stop. �. z
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Current Time: 4:17:05 PIlil
W<Times shown based an estimated times of arrival
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Page Last Edited-Fri May 16,2014 11120:27 AM
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