NY MTA: We Get 700 Text Messages A Day for Bus Arrival Info

The NY MTA says it receives about 700 text messages a day seeking arrival or departure information for B63 buses in Brooklyn. The transit authority last winter began piloting a GPS-based program on the Bay Ridge-Brooklyn Heights bus route, where users can send a text message asking when a bus will be arriving at a given stop.

The procedure involves texting a six-digit code number to "41411," then waiting for a text back that tells users how many miles or how many stops the bus is away.

Unlike some privately generated apps, the MTA app doesn't "find" users, nor does it tell how many minutes a bus is away.

But the authority it still has 18,000 "mobile interactions" and 13,000 "desktop interactions" a month.

And it has chosen a vendor, VeriFone, to fully hook up all buses in Staten Island by the end of the year, at a cost of $6.9 million. Transportation Nation reported on the Staten Island roll-out earlier this year.