(So when we Asheville try it?) Chapel Hill has had it since 2006 and Raleigh just got it, the News & Observer reports: Triangle Transit and the Durham Area Transit Authority will spend $1.2 million this year in federal stimulus money to outfit 131 buses. Riders will be able to check bus times on Internet browsers, cell phones and electronic message boards at some stops. ...

“Users of transit systems increasingly want good, real-time information,” said David L. Turney, chief executive officer of Dallas-based DRI Corp., the RTP company’s parent. “They want to know if the transit vehicle is coming, and they want to know if it is coming on time.”

Raleigh’s Capital Area Transit spent $500,000 to equip its 65 buses with Digital Recorders gear. CAT recently introduced its real-time bus-tracking service online at http://www.raleighrides.org.

Chapel Hill Transit, the region’s busiest bus line, began its real-time service in 2006. Riders can check buses at http://www.chtransit.org or http://www.nextbus.com . ...

By early 2011, five Triangle bus agencies will have GPS technology that tracks the speed and location of each bus and lets riders find out how soon their buses will arrive. ...

— For more on Asheville “Where’s my bus” GPS activity, see http://www.mountainx.com/news/2007/new_tech_could_answer_the_question_has_the_bus_come_by_yet/