The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) recently implemented the $32.6 million Fixed Route Intelligent Transportation System (FRITS) at 33 transit agencies statewide.
Pennsylvania is the first state to deploy FRITS statewide.
FRITS provides real-time service information for passengers, allowing them to see their bus and how far it is from their locations via the myStop smartphone app. The app also allows users to navigate between transit agencies. Google Maps certified the transit agencies’ routes.
“Every transit agency, regardless of size or budget or whether they’re in an urban or rural location, deserves access to technology that can help them better serve their customers,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said. “By implementing this technology statewide, transit users in all corners of Pennsylvania will benefit and more Pennsylvanians will reach their destinations on-time and safely.”
Transit agencies can use FRITS to automatically count passengers boarding or leaving vehicles, help monitor their vehicles’ locations, and provide a statewide reporting database.
“Safe, clean and reliable public transit is essential to Pennsylvanians’ daily lives and our economic growth,” Carroll said.
Pennsylvania-based Avail Technologies completed the implementation which began in March 2018 at all fixed-route transit agencies. Only Pittsburgh Regional Transit and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority did not implement FRITS. They use their own comparable systems.