Buses

First-Ever Electronic Bus Status Display Installed in Manhattan

A camera phone-toting tipster reports seeing workers installing what appears to be New York City's first-ever real-time bus status display board this morning inside a bus shelter at First Avenue and E. 14th Street along the M15 route. We'll put in some calls to the MTA and DOT to get the details.

By Aaron Naparstek

3:20 PM EDT on August 24, 2007

A camera phone-toting tipster reports seeing workers installing what appears to be New York City’s first-ever real-time bus status display board this morning inside a bus shelter at First Avenue and E. 14th Street along the M15 route. We’ll put in some calls to the MTA and DOT to get the details.

Unfortunately, for now it appears that the new displays can only be read and understood by bus riders fluent in Klingon.

Correction: The digital sign displays text smoothly. Our tipster’s camera phone was unable to capture a clear image.

Update: A Dept. of Transportation source says that the MTA is installing 15 of these real-time bus information displays around Manhattan as a pilot program. DOT is responsible for the shelters, MTA is responsible for the electronic signs. The project is part of the city’s contract with Cemusa, the company that builds and sells ads on the new bus shelters as DOT’s sub-contractor.

Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.

Buses | DOT | Manhattan | MTA | Transit

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