CTA Bus Tracker predicts bus arrival times primarily through a combination of real-time GPS data and historical travel time information. GPS devices on buses transmit their locations to CTA servers, allowing for real-time tracking and estimations of arrival times at specific stops. This data is combined with historical travel data and schedule information to provide the most accurate predictions possible.
How does CTA Bus Tracker predict bus arrival times?
Here’s a more detailed breakdown
- Real-time GPS Data: Each bus is equipped with a GPS device that reports its location to the CTA’s servers.
- Historical Travel Time Data: The system also uses past travel times between stops to refine its predictions.
- Schedule-based Data: When real-time data is unavailable, the system relies on scheduled arrival times.
- API Access: The Bus Tracker system provides APIs that developers can use to access this data for creating third-party applications.
- Data Updates: Bus location and arrival information is updated frequently, typically every 30 seconds.
- Prediction Accuracy: While the system prioritizes real-time data, it may supplement with schedule-based data when real-time information is limited, and it will only predict arrivals within a reasonable timeframe (typically 30 minutes).