Virginia Tech students and employees now have a system that can help them predict bus arrival times and give other information about their public-transportation commute.

The VT Bus Tracker system was developed by a Virginia Tech computer science class. It's available online and through various mobile devices, and will be widely announced when students return to campus later this month.

Users can text their location and the Blacksburg Transit route they're interested in to a system phone number. Within seconds, it responds with the estimated arrival time and number of riders aboard the bus.

Blacksburg Transit, the town of Blacksburg, Google Inc. and the Virginia Tech Computer Science Department have contributed to the effort.

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