Transit SMS for public agencies
Text a stop number. Get the next bus.
RideInfo runs your agency's text line. Riders text a stop number, a corner, or a question and get live arrival times from your GTFS-RT feed. Riders can sign up for alerts by text, and your staff can send service updates to them. We set up the number and the carrier registration with you.
Crosstown Transit
Text line answered by RideInfo
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Rider
1482
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Crosstown Transit
Main St & 5th Ave (stop 1482). Rt 12 to Downtown: 4 & 19 min. Rt 7 to University: 8 min. Rt 22 to Hospital: 11 min. Reply R to refresh.
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Rider
is the 22 late
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Crosstown Transit
Yes, about 3 min late. It reaches Main St & 5th Ave in 11 min. Rt 22 is detoured on Oak St until 6 PM.
What riders can ask by text
Riders do not need to learn commands. They type the way they would ask a driver.
The number on the stop sign
A rider texts the stop number and gets the next arrivals for every route at that stop. The times come from your GTFS-RT feed, not the printed schedule.
A corner or a landmark
"main and 5th" and "the hospital" work too. The reply gives the stop number, so the rider can text it directly next time.
R to refresh
A rider waiting at the stop replies R for new times. They do not type the stop number again.
Trips, alerts, schedules, and fares
"How do I get to Oakwood Transit Center?" "Is the 8 detoured?" "How much is a day pass?" Each answer comes from your own feeds and fare rules.
English and Spanish
A rider who texts in Spanish gets the answer in Spanish, including the arrival times.
Directions by text after a call
When a rider calls RideInfo for trip directions, the voice agent offers to text them. It sends one text, only after the caller says yes.
Alerts riders sign up for
- Sign up by text. A rider texts JOIN 22 for one route, JOIN with a stop number for one stop, or JOIN ALL. We check the route or stop against your GTFS feed before we confirm.
- Detours and service alerts go out on their own. When your GTFS-RT feed posts an alert for a route, subscribers to that route get a text. Nobody on your staff has to retype it.
- A text before the bus comes. On your rider portal, a rider can ask for a text on weekdays between 7 and 8 AM when Route 4 is 10 minutes from their stop.
Updates your staff send
- Text only the riders affected. Send to all subscribers, to the riders of chosen routes or stops, or to a saved group. A snow closure on three routes does not wake up the whole list.
- Write it tonight, send it at 5 AM. Schedule a message, give it an end time so a late send never goes out, and cancel it partway if plans change.
- Know how many riders got it. Each message shows how many texts the carriers delivered and how many failed.
The carrier rules, handled
Carriers block text programs that break their rules. These are part of the service, not a project for your staff.
STOP means stop
STOP, END, CANCEL, QUIT, UNSUBSCRIBE, and their Spanish forms opt a rider out at once. We check the opt-out list again at the moment each broadcast goes out, so a rider who opted out a minute ago gets nothing.
A record of every opt-in and opt-out
If a rider says they never signed up, you can show the word they texted and the time. Phone numbers are stored encrypted, and a number that goes quiet is deleted after 12 months.
Carrier registration with you
We prepare the short code or toll-free registration: the program description, the sample messages, the HELP and STOP replies, and the opt-in proof. Your agency name appears in the replies, and you can change their wording.
A monthly report for your board
Texts in and out, unique riders, alerts delivered and failed, sign-ups, opt-outs, and uptime, as a PDF or CSV. A second server takes over the text line if the first one fails.
Replacing your SMS vendor
If your current text service is ending or no longer supported, this is the order we work in.
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1
Your number and the carrier registration
Carrier approval takes the longest, so we file it in the first week.
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2
Your feeds and your stops
We connect your GTFS and GTFS-RT feeds and test the stop numbers printed on your signs. We send you the results before riders see anything.
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3
Your replies and your notices
You approve the HELP, STOP, and sign-up replies. We give you the wording for your stop signs, website, and rider notices.
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4
Go live
Riders text the number and get answers from the first day. Add phone and web chat later from the same feeds if you want them.
For the details of a good transit text service, from the 160-character limit to the stop_code field, read what a transit SMS service has to get right.
The same answer by text, phone, and web chat
RideInfo also answers calls and web chats from the same feeds. A rider who texts and a rider who calls hear the same arrival time.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Each agency gets its own short code or toll-free number. Riders text that number, and every reply comes from it. Your voice line can stay on a separate number.
The software setup takes a few weeks if you publish GTFS and GTFS-RT. Carrier registration for a new short code can take longer, so we file it in the first week. We write the registration with you, including the sample messages and the opt-in wording.
English and Spanish. A rider who texts in Spanish gets the answer in Spanish. The Spanish keywords PARAR, AYUDA, and UNIR work alongside STOP, HELP, and JOIN.
No. RideInfo answers transit questions by text. Riders who need a person still call your customer service line.
Fixed-route service that is in your GTFS feed. Paratransit and demand-response trips are not covered.
Pricing depends on your text volume and on whether you add phone and web chat. Ask us for a quote with your monthly text count.
Watch a stop number get a reply
Book a demo. We text a stop, sign up for a route alert, send a broadcast, and open the monthly report.