Students don’t have to wonder where the bus is anymore.

As of last Thursday, Huskie Buses, now equipped with GPS technology, can be tracked via NIU’s official Web site. Bus locations can also be viewed on televisions in DuSable Hall and the Holmes Student Center. Plans are currently in place to make the same viewing possible in the residence halls.

“This will be the first of many upgrades to the Huskie Bus system,” said Brent Keller, director of Mass Transit for the Student Association. “We’re never going to be satisfied with what we have, we are constantly going to enhance the system.”

The $19,500 project, funded through NIU, features microchips being placed in every bus radio system. The technology was acquired from Tri-Star Communications, Inc.

The NIU Advanced Geospatial Laboratory of Geography helped get the tracking system Web site up and running, Keller said.

The microchips placed in bus radios transmit a signal allowing the bus to be monitored. The GPS units track buses anywhere in DeKalb, as well as Sycamore and outside areas.

Although the units possess the ability to track the bus nationally, the feature is not currently active, Keller said.

The Web site can currently be accessed via computer and iPhone. However, more methods of technology, such as Blackberrys and regular cell phones, will be able to access the technology as the system is enhanced, Keller said.

This tracking system will be greatly beneficial to students during days with adverse weather conditions, and students will be able to know where the bus is at all times.

The system aims to decrease the amount of time students spend waiting for the bus, he said.

“GPS will drastically enhance the efficiency of the system,” Keller said. “[It] will remove the guess work from bus dispatching.”