Riders of Schuylkill Transporation System buses will now have easy access to arrival and departure times.
Two digital timetablesigns and a 40-inch LCD screen were installed Tuesday at Union Station.
Joan Breslin, marketing and service support coordinator with STS, said the improvements are bringing company technology more up-to-date.
"It's bringing us into a more technological world of transportation," she said.
They are the last component of the Intelligent Transportation System Fixed Project, which was paid for from federal, state and local funds.
The signs and the screen were a small part of the $750,000 project, Mike Micko, executive director of STS, said Wednesday.
The 5 1/2 by 3 1/2 foot screens show the current time and route number, name of the bus, departure time and GPS map to track the bus in real time.
"The project will be complete. This is the last phase," Micko said Wednesday, at which time only one outside sign still needed to be set up.
The cost for the signs, LCD screen and hardware and software was $29,0000.
The signs were received in October, but weren't installed immediately to ensure that any potential glitches in the system were addressed. Avail Technologies, State College, installed the signs with assistance from Bartush Signs Inc., Orwigsburg.
In addition to the signs, the project also funded infrared sensors on fixed route buses to keep a record of the number of riders throughout the day. An automatic vehicle locator, similar to a GPS, was also installed.
"It will tell you its location at all times. It will tell you whether its running on time or behind schedule," Micko said of the locator. The monitoring is done in Saint Clair at STS Operating Facility, 252 Industrial Park Road, Saint Clair.
Though the signs and the screen inside Union Station were not working Tuesday, Rochelle Kresge, 52, of Pottsville, welcomed the changes.
"It's pretty cool," she said.