The Butler Transit Authority will have voice enunciation systems in its buses by spring, according to BTA Executive Director John Paul.

This system negates the need for drivers to announce stops, and it will bring The Bus into compliance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

Also, the system will allow The Bus to comply with Pennsylvania's Act 44 performance measures, which require transit systems to evaluate efficiency every three years to be eligible for state funding.

"We are looking to implement (the voice-enunciation system) within the next four months, late February or early March," Paul said.

The authority is negotiating a contract with Avail Technologies in State College, which produced similar systems for dozens of other transit systems.

Troy Whitesel, marketing manager for Avail Technologies, said the voice enunciation system is just part of an overall upgrade.

An LED sign will be placed in each bus to display stops for the hearing impaired, and an automatic passenger counter will track ridership.

"The passenger counters will provide (the transit authority) with the data necessary to make route or stop changes as well as their annual ridership reports to the National Transit Database," Whitesel said.

Without automatic passenger counters, transit authorities have to place an employee on random buses, sampling the ridership to compile data, which is a labor intensive process, Paul said.

Whitesel said the engineering and design phases for the system are under way.

The upgrades also will include global positioning systems in each of the authority's six buses.

"Right now, the GPS locator is planned as a tool for management. The next step would be to make it available for a public database, where our ridership could check real-time bus locations," Paul said. "It's a multiple-facet implementation system."

The bulk of the time until implementation will be spent programming the authority's routes and stop locations into its computer system, which must be synchronized with Google Earth to plot the stops for tracking.

"Sometimes, you get a bus with three different installers for the signs, fare boxes and GPS. That's three systems for a driver to have to log into and keep track of. What we do is make it all one system," Whitesel said.

In addition to the on-bus improvements, the authority will have a large LCD screen installed in its West Cunningham Street transfer center, providing riders with real-time information on departure times.

"Ultimately, these tools help authorities to provide a better level of service to their passengers," Whitesel said.

The price tag for all of the improvements is about $411,000 to upgrade the authority's six buses, Paul said.

Since two of the authority's buses are idle at any time, installation of the systems will not result in any service interruptions, Paul said.

Workers from Avail Technologies will install the systems.

He said the initial systems will be placed in a bus and tested within the next month.