New & improved Athens Transit website

Check out the wholly redesigned Athens Transit website. It looks great!

This new site is a huge improvement, so kudos to ATS for completing this needed project.

While the real-time bus tracker is a very cool feature, we still need some scale maps of the routes...

Upgrades to downtown parking meters

Downtown Athens is getting new "solar-powered parking meters that accept credit cards and dollar bills."

Notably,

The pay-and-display system also will cut down on streetside clutter, because each new machine can handle up to 10 parking spaces, [ADDA Executive Director Kathryn] Lookofsky said.

"It will make the sidewalks more walkable."

Athens Transit Services news

I attended the Citizens Advisory Committee for Athens Transit this past Monday and learned about a slew of technological improvements to transit service that should be up and running very soon (if they aren't already). Enhancements include:

1. Computer-aided dispatch systems

2. Buses and the Multi-Modal Transit Center are outfitted with scrolling digital signs. Signs on buses indicate the time and the next approaching stop. These are augmented by audio announcements, which kick in ~100' from major stops (e.g. Prince Ave @ Milledge Ave). The signage at MMTC will display real-time ETAs on buses at the arrival bays.

3. A web-based system will soon be available, allowing ATS staff & riders to see the location & ETA of their bus as it travels its route. The combination of this feature with item 1 will result in much more timely bus arrival at route stops.

4. In partnership with BikeAthens, ATS will also be online with Google Transit, joining a handful of cities utilizing this extremely useful trip-planning application. ATS predicts that this will go live within six weeks.

Exciting developments! Stay tuned...I'll post updates on this as it becomes available.