"You can't change the street. … You are not going to change that dynamic,'' CTA President Forrest Claypool said.
But the CTA is counting on the nearly $9 million system — already installed in most of the transit agency's 1,800 buses — to help drivers steer around traffic slowdowns and boost service reliability. That's been an elusive goal under the existing system that employs the GPS-based CTA Bus Tracker and more than 100 "street supervisors," who drive around in cars in an attempt to spot problems and smooth out bus service.
The new bus management system, which was demonstrated Monday at CTA headquarters, uses GPS equipment already on CTA buses to monitor the location and progress of each bus.
The centerpiece of the new system, however, is the real-time communications link between the CTA control center and every bus driver. That replaces another outdated piece of technology, a 15-year-old radio-based bus communications system that was intended to be used primarily in emergencies and that bus drivers have complained doesn't work.
Joseph Schwieterman, a transportation expert at DePaul University, echoed Claypool's statement that technology can do only so much.
"Our system, which is dominated by buses stopping every few blocks, makes eliminating bunching a difficult proposition,'' Schwieterman said. "It will be hard to do more than get partial relief."
He said any increases in traffic congestion and road construction will offset some of the gains, particularly during summer.
"As traffic rises, even small, random events like a double-parked car can cause buses to lose time.That makes fixing the problem more difficult and it will test the limits of the technology," Schwieterman said.
Michael Haynes, CTA manager of transit systems support, said a big advantage of the new system is that bus drivers are now able to more quickly report conditions on the street themselves rather than rely on CTA supervisors driving around in an SUV to assess the situation.
"We are able to track for bus-bunching and large gaps in service in real time and make better use of the equipment that is already out on the street,'' said Haynes, who is the project manager on the new system.
Automated announcements can also be triggered by dispatchers to alert riders to service issues or other problems before they exit the bus, officials said.
If issues ranging from a serious traffic accident to an emergency like a building fire or a broken-down bus disrupt service along a route, dispatchers and drivers are able to communicate via a touch-screen keypad or by voice, Haynes said. Service can then be adjusted to accommodate riders as quickly as possible, he said.
Depending on the problem, the solution may be as simple as rerouting buses, sending out some buses earlier than scheduled, holding buses in the terminal longer or instructing drivers already in service to skip some bus stops in order to re-establish the proper spacing, Haynes said.
The new system has been installed on about 80 percent of the CTA bus fleet, and transit officials said the first three months of a trial period this year have shown promising results.
On nine busy bus routes, the CTA has seen a nearly 40 percent reduction, on average, "in those big gaps that leave customers waiting longer than they should,'' Claypool said.
The low reliability of bus service contributed heavily to an 8 percent decline in CTA bus ridership in 2014 compared with 2013, transit officials said.
Finding a better fix is key because buses carry the majority of CTA passengers.
Last year, CTA rail ridership rose 4 percent, its highest level in more than 50 years, according to the transit agency.
The bus management system is produced and managed by Clever Devices Ltd., a New York-based transportation-technology company that also is the vendor for CTA Bus Tracker and Train Tracker.
The CTA is using federal funding to pay for the project, officials said.
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