A $12 million contract signed by the city this week will revolutionize the way Brampton Transit riders get around.

The SmartBus project will be operational in 12 to 18 months and it will, among other things, let commuters know via e-mail if their bus is going to be late, pull buses out of operation before they break down, and give delayed buses the green light to go through intersections and make up some lost time.

It also includes the installation of security cameras on all 211 of the city's bus fleet.

"We're very excited about it. It will offer service that our customers have been asking for for a long time," said Alex Milojevic, Brampton Transit's manager of business strategies.

Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS) signed the deal with the city, agreeing to supply and install high-tech upgrades on regular transit buses and the future AcceleRide Bus Rapid Transit system, which is scheduled to hit the streets in 2010.

Only York Region's Viva transit system has anything like it in the GTA, although even it does not currently offer everything Brampton's project has planned. The City of London has a similar system, too, according to Milojevic.

The new system will include:

- electronic display boards at all bus terminals (e.g. Shoppers World and Bramalea City Centre) that will provide the arrival times and servivce information for all buses due at the terminal. The boards will offer "real-time" information (updated as it happens) about any delays such as those caused by weather or traffic;

- riders will be able to visit a Web site to look at any route in the city and see where the bus is at any given moment;

- anyone with a Blackberry or personal digital assistant (PDA) will be able to subscribe to a service that will notify them via e-mail if their bus is running late and how long the delay is;

- if a bus is developing a mechanical problem, it will be automatically flagged, and it can be pulled out of the system and replaced before it breaks down, which should lessen service disruptions caused by mechanical failures;

- if a bus is running more than 10 minutes late, it will be able to automatically send a request to a central computer for a traffic light priority, which is a request that the light remain green for a little longer than normal so it can get through an upcoming intersection, or that a red light be shortened a little so the bus gets a green light sooner.

Milojevic said the priority signal request is not the same as an emergency vehicle's ability to change a light upon approach, and a bus request for signal priority would be considered in the context of existing traffic conditions at the time, before the request is either approved or denied.

The city expects the new features to spike ridership even more than the huge gains the system has been experiencing in recent years. With 22 per cent more rides last month compared to September 2007, Brampton Transit continues to outstrip all other Canadian transit systems in ridership growth. The Canadian average is 2 1/2 per cent, according to Milojevic.

Contributing to last month's jump in ridership are new routes and increased service introduced by Brampton Transit. Those changes include a new route to York University which has proven very successful and the introduction of Route 101 to Pearson International Airport, which is attracting new riders every week, including those who work at the airport.