A stealthy getaway by a thief in Ottawa was unlikely: The loot was loud and large and equipped with a global positioning system.

A transit bus was was idling and unoccupied at the St. Laurent Boulevard transit garage at 3 a.m. Thursday morning, when it went missing.

But police used the satellite tracking device, or GPS, and found it at 4:23 a.m., abandoned near the intersection of Leitrim and Hall roads in the city's far southeast end.

OC Transpo security superintendent Jim Babe said the stolen bus was one of 750 in OC Transpo's fleet of 900 that have been equipped with GPS since the city started installing the satellite tracking devices earlier this year.

Babe said foiling bus thieves was not specifically what public transit officials had in mind when they decided to install the tracking devices.

"It's just for service … to see if the buses are running on time and stuff," he said. "And if there's a security incident or whatever, it's easy to track the bus down."

In fact, he said transit bus thefts are extremely rare.

"I've been here seven years and that's the first time I've ever heard of it."

A 43-year-old man from Norway Bay, Que., has been charged with possession over $5,000 and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.