Passengers waiting at the national capital's major interchanges will soon know just how far away their bus is.
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The ACT government will begin installing ''real time'' display screens that inform passengers at bus stations of how long they will have to wait for their bus to arrive.
The digital screens, similar to those at tram stops and train stations in other capital cities, will be installed at interchanges in Civic, Woden, Tuggeranong and Belconnen.
The government committed $12.5 million over three years in its 2010-11 budget for the technology, and said yesterday it had selected transport technology company Trapeze Austrics to design and supply the bus-tracking system.
Territory and Municipal Services Minister Katy Gallagher said the project would begin later this month and would be completed next year.
The Chief Minister said passengers would also be able to view arrival times on touch screens at kiosks and from their mobile phones.
Digital screens will be installed on ACTION buses to allow passengers to view the estimated time until the next stop.
''The new system, which will be known as 'NXTBUS', will track ACTION buses and provide instant information to passengers in relation to their current location and their estimated arrival time at the next stop,'' Ms Gallagher said. ''Canberrans will, for the first time, have access to real time arrival information for ACTION bus services.
''Arrival times will be available via digital displays installed at Woden, Civic, Belconnen and Tuggeranong bus stations, the internet, mobile phones and tablets, touch screen displays and on-bus visual displays.''
Ms Gallagher said the company the government had awarded the tender to had installed similar systems around the world, including in London, Frankfurt and Singapore.
She said the $12.5 million the government would spend on the project would cover the design and roll out of a system that would ''improve the delivery of public transport services to the community.''
The funding would cover the installation of software, fleet fit out, including on-bus visual and audio display systems, bus driver consoles with automated driver route guidance, electronic displays at bus stations and the development of a NXTBUS website.
