Princeton officials are applying for a $105,000 state grant to install real-time digital displays at 10 Princeton Muni Transit bus stops to help riders keep track of the bus.
The town is applying for the grant through the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Mobility and Transportation Innovation pilot program within Mercer County. It would cover the installation costs and one year of hosting and maintaining the digital displays.
The Princeton Muni Transit system operates six days per week for 12-and-a-half hours per day on a regular schedule, linking residential communities with the Central Business District and the Princeton Shopping Center.
The Princeton Muni Transit system’s schedule and routes are available on a printed form, as well as on a mobile app on smartphones. The app allows users to keep track of changes in bus schedules or delays because of traffic congestion in real time.
But users who do not have smartphones are unable to do so – and that’s the reason for installing the solar-powered digital displays at the bus stops, officials said. The digital displays will let users know when to expect the next bus or if there are delays, reducing frustration.
The town’s real-time digital display would be the same as the ones used by Princeton University for its Tiger Transit system, which is also available to Princeton residents.
The Princeton Muni Transit route on the TripShot app is already integrated with Tiger Transit, and the real-time digital displays likewise can be integrated into the Tiger Transit system.
