Blackburg Transit Upgrades BT4U Call and Text Service

Blacksburg Transit has moved their BT4U call and text service to a new and improved platform, the Twilio app. With the help of Automation Creations, Inc. and Code for New River Valley, a local Brigade Chapter of Code for America, the days of having to text to an email address and call a separate number to find bus departure times are over. Customers can now call and text the same number to receive bus schedule information.

ITS Special Projects Manager, Tim Witten, said, “We believe our passengers will find this version much easier to use and more reliable. By working with third parties, we were able to create an overall better product.”

Volunteers at Code for NRV, Neal Feierabend, Shawn Hanna, Kevin Hill and Stephen Tanner worked with ACI to provide the information generated by the BT4U mobile app in a format accessible by all phone users regardless of smart phone capabilities.

“We enjoyed joining forces with BT and ACI. Collaborating with local government to improve services for citizens and affecting positive change are our primary goals,” said Feierabend, co-captain and delivery lead for code for NRV.

“The upgrade of the phone and texting service helps BT continue to provide their ridership with the latest advances in transit communication technologies, something we’ve been able to do for three years now. We look forward to what the future holds for BT4U,” said ACI Software Engineer, Rick Rose.

The previous call and text service wasn’t as user-friendly. With the new version, users simply enter a stop number. The voice or text reply includes each route serving that stop, along with departure times. To prevent an overload of information, if three or more routes serve the same stop, only one departure time will be given. If less than three routes serve the stop, riders will receive all three estimated departure times.