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Say goodbye to the days of doing jumping jacks to stay warm at the bus stop, waiting for what seemed an eternity in sub-zero weather.

The Chicago Transit Authority's Bus Tracker system, introduced in 2008 and rolled out systemwide in March 2009, lets commuters go online (ctabustracker.com) and set up e-mail or text alerts for specific times of the day and have bus-arrival predictions automatically sent to them on a daily basis.

The latest update, which started in September, lists an identification code for each bus stop. When a commuter sends the ID code in a text message, he or she receives a text message back telling him how long he will have to wait before the bus comes.

"Because of the ID codes being posted at each stop and our marketing efforts, the use of the bus-texting tool tripled, to 26,490 two-way texts on an average weekday, compared with 12,000 texts when the IDs were available only on the website," said John Vasilj, the CTA's chief technology officer.

CTA buses transport 1 million rides -- the number includes one-way and two-way trips -- each day.

Visits to the Bus Tracker website have soared 45 percent -- to 46,062 in September from 31,720 in June -- on an average weekday, as more riders find out about the convenience.

The CTA developed the software in partnership with local developers employed by transit technology firm Clever Devices of Plainview, N.Y. The software uses Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology to track bus locations. The CTA has invested $28.2 million in total with three vendors -- Clever Devices, IBM and Sprint -- to buy and install the hardware and to keep the software updated.

The GPS software's text-messaging abilities also let CTA Control Center operators communicate with field supervisors on the bus routes.

"The system helps us make sure that our bus service is working the way it should, and reduces big gaps between times the buses make their stops," Vasilj said.

Testing has started on a tracking system for the CTA train system.CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY: BUS TRACKER

Agency headquarters: Chicago

Number of employees: 10,000

Year established: 1947