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CTA Bus Tracker System Wins Award

CHICAGO (CBS) - The CTA Bus Tracker System has won the transit agency a Chicago Innovation Award.

The Chicago Transit Authority received the award at a ceremony last week at the Goodman Theatre. The agency was honored for the Web-based program that uses global positioning technology to provide commuters with Web and text messages showing bus arrival times and service updates.

In 2009, an analysis of Google Web searches found that "Bus Tracker" was the second-most searched item in Chicago, and "cta bus tracker" was the fifth-fastest rising search term in the whole country on Google Mobile Search, the CTA said.

"Since the initial testing of Bus Tracker in 2006, the CTA has made great strides in finding ways to enhance its functionality so that riders can rely on this travel management tool wherever they may be," CTA President Richard Rodriguez said in a news release. "In its few short years, Bus Tracker has evolved from a web site accessible from desktop computers to information that is easily accessible from wireless devices and readily available on displays throughout the city."

The Chicago Innovation Award has been given out since 2002, to 10 annual winners who come up with impressive new products and services.

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