THE LATEST in satellite technology is to be used to help Bury buses run on time.

Operators First has announced it is to improve service monitoring using its Tracker vehicles.

These will involve route 98, Bury to Manchester, via Whitefield and Radcliffe; route 471,Bury to Bolton, and Bury to Rochdale, and route 524, Bury to Bolton, via Radcliffe.

Tracker uses the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) network to track a bus's progress along a route. Full timetable information and specific route detail, such as the exact map references for stops, are loaded into an on-bus computer.

As it drives along the route the computer uses the GPS system to track the bus's position, comparing it to the pre-loaded information. When it reaches a stop, it records the event and time and, again using the GPS, immediately sends the data back to headquarters.

This gives an in-depth picture of the journey experience that is then used, together with information collected from the driver's ticket machine, to prepare a detailed route profile revealing any operational problems and key customer boarding points. It is then used to help with better timetabling and routing.

Russell Gard, First's commercial director for Manchester, said the Tracker technology represented an investment of more than £20,000.

"Buses fitted with Tracker can be deployed on any of our routes and they provide a lot of information that we can share with our partners in order to help deliver better services for customers. The programme we're starting in Bury is just part of a wider exercise covering all our operations in northern Greater Manchester."