It’s not what you think, at least initially, but I find this application incredibly interesting. Plus, it’s another step closer to having mobile WiFi for the rest of us commuting around Vancouver via TransLink.
Novax Industries of New Westminster is in negotiations with TransLink to install what’s called Trans-POD. It would give buses intersection priority.
Novax CEO David Atnikov says it would also alert transit passengers on their laptops or cellphones on where their bus is and how long it will take to arrive. He says it would be like making your time more efficient.
The system could also be used for parking meter reading, gas meter reading, or checking your hydro consumption.
Atnikov says because the transmitter is on the bus, it creates a wireless connected neighbourhood wherever transit is. Edmonton and Toronto already have the Trans-POD system up and running. [news1130]
I’ve written about the need for a city-wide, wireless Internet system in Vancouver, and it’s high time that we stop thinking about catching up with what other, major metropolitan areas are doing on the other side of the Rockies.
I’m already using the MyBus application on Facebook quite a lot. It’s incredible useful to see how soon the next bus is supposed to arrive when heading to work on a rainy day. I can only imagine how useful that would be to get on my cellphone, not needing wireless access on an iPhone to do so.