Because of high costs, UF no longer plans to install two LCD screens that would have displayed a GPS map of bus locations.
Purchasing and installing the screens would have cost between $20,000 and $25,000, said Scott Fox, director of UF Transportation and Parking Services.
The cost was so high, Fox said, because the screens would have been outside and encased in a weatherproof enclosure supplied with electricity and the Internet.
At one point, UF considered installing a screen inside the Hub, but the idea fell through because that bus stop is not as busy as others, he said.
UF's latest plan is to install signs at major bus stops that will instruct students on how to access the online GPS map, he said.
The first signs will likely be installed at bus stops such as the Reitz Union, Rawlings Hall and the Hub. If the signs are well received, UF will probably install more of them, he said.
The signs could cost about $100 each if they are bulk-ordered, Fox said.
UF's bus-tracking system, the Gator Locator, was launched June 9.
Since its launch, the main Web site and the mobile Web site have been visited about 164,000 times, according to data provided by Bob Miller, UF associate vice president of business affairs. Students can access the online map at gpsrts.ufl.edu. Mobile users can access the site with their phones at ufl.transloc-inc.com/m.
