PORTSMOUTH PARKING         

The City of Portsmouth has announced that the newly instituted downtown Portsmouth Parking Shuttle now has its own real-time tracking application.  The new free shuttle bus departs from the Connect Community Church Parking Lot on Market Street and drops passengers off at the Hanover Street Parking Garage. (click title to read more) 

The shuttle has been operating every weekend since early May. This new tool (which is both Web-based and available as a mobile app) will allow shuttle riders to view the location of the shuttle bus in real-time.  

The application was developed by Ride Systems and has been streaming the live location of the bus since Memorial Day Weekend.  The tool can be accessed via the Web through the Portsmouth Parking Shuttle web site (www.portsmouthparkingshuttle.com) as well as by downloading the Ride Tracker mobile application for smart phones or tablets. 

“We’re hopeful that the real-time tracking will enhance the user experience of the shuttle for the riders.  Tools like this are used by public transportation systems around the world to help people plan their transit trips with greater accuracy, and we’re pleased we’re able to try it out here in Portsmouth.” said Mark Nelson, the City’s Parking and Transportation Division Director. 

The shuttle has already carried over 1,700 riders as of June 1. “We are pleased with the success so far and we are hopeful that the weekend numbers will rise as the summer season arrives,” said Nelson. 

The new tracker is just one of the tools being used to inform riders of shuttle arrivals at the two different stops.  Each of the stops is already equipped with a count-down clock which re-sets every time the shuttle bus arrives and departs.  The wait for the shuttle bus at each location is usually less than 10 minutes.  The free parking shuttle will continue to operate every Friday, Saturday & Sunday until August 31, 2014.