MBTA launches pilot program giving bus drivers turn-by-turn directions for routes

The partnership with a transit technology company, Swiftly, aims to support bus drivers and improve service for riders, the transportation agency said.

The MBTA launched a navigation pilot program on Tuesday that aims to improve service for riders by giving its bus drivers turn-by-turn directions for their routes.

The MBTA said the NextGen Bus Navigation Pilot Program will assist bus drivers in navigating detours and other challenges on the road in real-time. The transportation agency is partnering with transit technology company Swiftly to put tablets in 100 buses by the end of the year that will provide step-by-step directions, similar to Google Maps, both visually and audibly.

The program is combining its in-house bus dispatching app, which lets MBTA operations map out, monitor, and manage unplanned bus detours as they occur, with a tool that is in development from Swiftly, the MBTA said.

“As we continue to improve bus service for our riders, it’s important to put our workforce in a better position to succeed,” MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng said in a statement. “We all know how the ability to navigate our road network can vary from day to day, and even hour by hour, affecting travel times. We are utilizing technology to give our dispatchers and operators the tools to make timely decisions and deliver improved and more reliable travel for our riders. The NextGen Bus Navigation Pilot does just that.”

According to the MBTA, the pilot program will also see new features in the agency’s internal app that will allow bus dispatchers to draw detours on a map, which can then be shared with inspectors and other staff in real time across the system. Eventually, the transit agency said, it will push those detour directions to the Swiftly tablets in its buses and to riders via real-time, open data feeds.

“We’ve hired over 350 new operators in the last year,” MBTA Executive Director of Bus Transportation Sean Mills said in a statement. “Though we train operators on all routes, it still can be a nerve-wracking experience to get out on the road for new operators. This helps provide them with more confidence to learn more routes and be able to cover what would otherwise be dropped trips, when they have availability.”

The MBTA said it will monitor the pilot program over the fall and winter and, following an evaluation period, be prepared to roll it out to all bus garages along with making real-time bus detour information available to riders.