At the start of Autumn Quarter, Campus Area Bus Services added a new texting service to help students find out when buses would arrive at their stops.

Since it began, the Transportation Route Information Program has received more than 1,600 texts per day and continues to grow at a rate of 20 percent each week.

To use the tool, students must text “osutrip” and the stop number to 41411. They then get a response alerting them when the next buses for each route will arrive. Stop numbers are listed on signs at every bus stop.

“The predicted times are not based on schedules, but on actual live data provided by the computer in each bus,” said Christopher Kovitya, an administrative associate with Transportation and Parking Services.

The computer in each bus uses wheel rotation and GPS to calculate where the bus is and how fast it has been going, he said.

CABS patrons can also view a live map displaying all the active buses
and their locations by logging on to the CABS Web site.

“The texting tool is more popular right now because it’s so accessible,” Kovitya said. “But with smart phones becoming more and more popular, we expect the Web site to continue to grow.”

When the service was first offered, TRIP received about 300 texts a day. Now, traffic on the Web site has increased, as has the number of people using the texting service.

“I use the texting tool every single day,” said Kenall Carson, a third-year in textiles and clothing. “Sometimes I’ll get to my stop [at 15th Avenue and High Street] early and I’ll use the texting tool to see if I have enough time to grab a coffee.”

The texting tool will be especially important in the winter, Carson said.
“I hate waiting out in the cold for the bus,” she said. “Knowing exactly when the bus is coming will keep me from freezing my butt off.”

The texting tool also helps students who are trying to maximize their time.

“I live way out on east campus,” said Adam Heldman, a fourth-year in operations management. “The texting tool lets me know if my bus is going to be late so I don’t waste that time standing at the stop.”

CABS buses run regular routes Monday through Friday. The Buckeye Village and Campus Loop South routes run on weekends. For more route information, visit tp.ohio-state.edu.