Canada’s Infrastructure Minister paid a visit to the BC Transit Centre in Kamloops this morning.

Francois-Philippe Champagne was demoed on the new multi-million-dollar NextRide system that came online last year, in Kamloops and six other B.C. cities.

The system allows transit riders to see exactly where a bus is from their smartphone.

“This is about technology serving people,” he says. “This is improving ridership and improving the lives of residents when you can monitor how full a bus is or where the bus is.”

Champagne says he’s heard good reviews about the technology.

“This is improving almost, I would say not only your total experience, but most parents today have children and we want to know how things are going and when they can get on the bus.

“This for me is a great innovation. Most of what we’re doing really is to improve people’s lives. Less is more, we want people to spend less time in traffic and more time at home with their families and friends.”

The feds contributed $5.8 million to the NextRide system which cost just over $11 million.