MTA BusTime should be a very helpful program for bus riders on Staten Island and waiting for a bus will be a thing of the past.

After several years of stops and starts, some false hopes and finally a successful pilot program in Brooklyn along Fifth Avenue, MTA New York City Transit has launched BusTime. This is a real-time bus tracking program and can be used on all Staten Island bus routes.

“Bus Time is going to transform the way that our 2.5 million bus riders use the bus system every day, and we’re thrilled to start here on Staten Island,” MTA Chairman Joseph J. Lhota said. “The MTA continues to bring new technology to our customers in ways that make our transit system better every day. With Bus Time you can get real-time information right on your cell phone or computer.”
The program is set up so that users can search for a bus route or intersection to see where buses are along the line. Additionally, riders may text a bus stop code or intersection to ‘511123’ to receive tracking information, and bus poles and shelters on Staten Island are now equipped with QR codes as well.

The MTA hopes to roll out a city-wide system by the end of 2013. To find out more on this new program, check out their official website at “bustime.mta.info/”.

All bus stops on Staten Island now have QR codes for smartphones to track the buses and will have this information on the schedule box as shown above.