Holding up in a cold bus stop waiting for a late bus could soon be a thing of the past. Metro Transit has just issued a call for a new locator service for its buses.

It’s part of a multi-million dollar upgrade in technology for its transit service.

With Metro Transit's go-time service a phone call will say when the next bus is supposed to come, but there's no real time tracking.

City spokeswoman Tiffany Chase said the new locator system will first be used by managers to keep track of the more than 300 buses on the road.

"Having a new system will enable us to have more features for transit when they're making decisions on planning new transit routes and changing schedules," she said.

Eventually passengers will be able to see arrival times on electronic boards at major transit stops, via text, phone or online.

After that the next step will be the installation of an electronic fare system.

"Separate projects that relate to improvements to transit technology include the introduction of electronic fare boxes. That will be a separate [Request for Proposals]," said Chase.

A new locator system should be in place about 18 months after the winning bid is approved.

It could take three years for all the upgrades to be competed; a total cost is expected to be about $36 million.