CTA Train Tracker Launched: Follow 'L' Trains Online

For all the benefits of "L" travel over Chicago's buses -- speed, convenience, the ability to buy a fare card at the same place you get on -- the trains lagged behind in one important aspect: the ability to know when the next one was coming.

That's all changed today, as the CTA launched the beta version of its "Train Tracker," a follow-up to the popular and successful Bus Tracker.

There may be some imperfections in the system: it doesn't follow trains with GPS as Bus Tracker does, instead estimating travel times based on an average of recent trips over a given span of track. But our early (and highly unscientific) experiments have shown it to be pretty accurate.

Mayor Daley touted the new technology in a press release Saturday, saying it "will add another layer of convenience for visitors, tourists and especially our residents." And CTA chief Richard Rodriguez patted his agency on the back as well. "Although money is tight and our budget is lean, we are continuing to find new ways to carry out plans and ideas aimed at improving our system and the customer experience," he said in the release.

Check it out at the CTA website, and give it a try. Let us know how accurate the system is on your line, and maybe we'll get some more scientific data together.

(Hat-tip to NBC Chicago.)

Comments

[tones]

10:09 AM on 01/10/2011

Oh what this doesn't use GPS? Prob a good reason or you would see that there are 3 redlines coming back to back with in 2 mins of each other...

[Hannah02]

03:32 PM on 01/09/2011

Although the Train Tracker is a good idea, and will help people with their schedules and being on time, what happens when the Train Tracker starts to become inaccurate because the Train Tracker doesnt use GPS it only uses average times based on previous trips. I feel as if CTA should have invested the money in the GPS tracking instead of relying on previous travel times to be accurate.

[Totto]

05:34 PM on 01/08/2011

Will the "Train Tracker" track the trains that fall off the decrepit "L" tracks?

[juggernautco]

02:40 PM on 01/08/2011

Here's a complete review of the Train Tracker, complete with photos of the site in real-world mobile use over the last few weeks: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/cta-tattler/2011/01/cta-train-tracker-beta-review.html