CHICAGO — CTA trains are getting easier to track online and on smartphones.
Chicago Transit Authority President Forrest Claypool and Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Wednesday in touting improvements to the popular CTA Train Tracker system. Already available at the CTA Train Tracker site, the add-ons can now show the location of all trains on a line and estimate arrival times.
Smartphones with the global positioning system activated, or computers with a wireless connection, can also get help planning trips by finding the nearest CTA station.
In most cases, the improvements keep pace with CTA Bus Tracker, which already can provide estimated arrival times and show all the buses on a selected route. Bus Tracker debuted in 2006, and Train Tracker followed five years later.
"CTA Train Tracker has been very popular with our customers, and we’re pleased to expand the features of this easy-to-use technology to increase its usefulness to passengers," Claypool said in a statement. "The information available through CTA Train Tracker helps thousands of riders plan and manage their commutes every day, and planning those trips just became easier."
Added Emanuel: "Creating a world-class transit system includes making it easy for Chicagoans to access information about their daily commutes, and CTA Train Tracker’s newest features are leading the way among transit agencies in offering the latest technology to riders in Chicago."
Train Tracker also has been given an improved interface to make it more convenient for use on either computer or smartphone.
