Budapest transport operator to start testing GPS system

Budapest's public transport operator BKV will start testing the Global Positioning System (GPS) in May, with plans to start using it throughout the city within a few years, origo.hu writes, citing a report in daily Népszabadság.

The system will make it possible to inform those waiting at bus stops where the buses are and at what time they can be expected to arrive. In addition, vision-impaired passengers will be aided by "talking buses" that will tell them how many seconds later the bus will stop and which of its doors will open.

The BKV will start testing the system on bus line 86 in May. Sixteen Volvo buses will be equipped with the GPS, and the new passenger information system will be installed at four bus stops: in both directions at Margit Bridge, on Batthyány tér and at Kiscelli utca. Those waiting will be able to see on a special map where the buses are and when they will arrive.

In the future, buses will be able to ask for a green light with the help of the GPS as well, which will be useful when a bus is running behind schedule. This will also be tested on bus line 86, at the intersection of Budafoki út and Bertalan Lajos utca, starting in May.

The system will be introduced gradually over eight years and will cost Ft 8 billion (roughly €32 million), said BKV traffic control head Pál Madák.

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