mbta bus locations in real-er time

[jeffkaufman]

The mbta makes it's buses visible through the nextbus website, where you can see buses in almost real time:

nextbus view of bus 1

What's annoying about this is that they show the bus at being at it's last reported location, which is generally 15 to 100 seconds out of date. I wrote a version that tries to give better predictions and moves the bus as you watch:

my view of bus 1

What do you think? Suggestions?

(To see other routes, either change the url or use the route chooser page)

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Dude that is really cool. I guess next steps would be to turn it into an iPhone app.

 

[statler]

Wow. Really, really well done.

 

[HenryAlan]

Dude that is really cool. I guess next steps would be to turn it into an iPhone app.

And WebOS, Android, BB OS, etc.

 

[jass]

I spy bunching (a 3 bus caravan)

 

[jeffkaufman]

I spy bunching (a 3 bus caravan)

I'm hoping that having the gps info for buses publicly available will push the mbta to actually do something about bunching.

 

[jeffkaufman]

And WebOS, Android, BB OS, etc.

That's the thing; writing for the browser is really nice because it ought to work on anything (though I have done zero testing on mobile apps or even tiny screens).

 

[gooseberry]

This is very cool.

Just clicking random routes, you really see how absurdly laided out they are . The 11 bus for example. Does anyone ride that?

 

[Ron Newman]

I've ridden the 11. Why do you ask? (If I want to get to the east end of Southie, I'll take whatever route is leaving at the time I need -- 7, 9, 10, or 11)

 

[Corey]

That's very neat. I would love to have something like this for my daily commute in Portland where there is usually an hour wait if you miss your bus.

 

[gooseberry]

I've ridden the 11. Why do you ask? (If I want to get to the east end of Southie, I'll take whatever route is leaving at the time I need -- 7, 9, 10, or 11)

How long does it take to get across Southie on that?

 

[choo]

there are apps already. Pocketmbta is only 99cents and does this great. There are others that are more expensive. I use it all the time. Its great to be in the backbay and say should i take the 1 or walk, and you can see if its right around the corner. Best thing the mbta has done. they deserve kudos for this.

 

[saulblum]

there are apps already. Pocketmbta is only 99cents and does this great. There are others that are more expensive. I use it all the time. Its great to be in the backbay and say should i take the 1 or walk, and you can see if its right around the corner. Best thing the mbta has done. they deserve kudos for this.

I agree. I've been using Pocket MBTA and Catch the Bus, as well as the nextbus.com site. Makes riding the bus so much better to not have to wait outside endlessly not knowing when the bus is going to show up. Definitely the best thing the T has done lately.

 

[HenryAlan]

That's the thing; writing for the browser is really nice because it ought to work on anything (though I have done zero testing on mobile apps or even tiny screens).

I agree, I was mostly pointing out to Van that if a developer goes the app route, there is more to that than just the world of iPhone.

I tested your site on my phone this morning, and the map with the routes works great. I did find the route selection a bit awkward on the small screen, but I very much appreciated the ability to select more than a single route. Do you have any plans to add a way to view arrival times on a selected stop?

 

[HenryAlan]

I agree. I've been using Pocket MBTA and Catch the Bus, as well as the nextbus.com site. Makes riding the bus so much better to not have to wait outside endlessly not knowing when the bus is going to show up. Definitely the best thing the T has done lately.

Yep, it's great for me when I take the bus in the morning. I have the option of walking half a block to a stop served by three lines, or walking three blocks to a stop served by 9. If I know there is no bus coming on the three closer lines, I'll walk the extra 2.5 blocks, now I always know which choice to make.

 

[jeffkaufman]

I tested your site on my phone this morning, and the map with the routes works great. I did find the route selection a bit awkward on the small screen, but I very much appreciated the ability to select more than a single route.

Thanks for testing it! I just put up a new version which shrinks the padding between route selectors a little, which ought to be a little less awkward on a small screen.

Really, though, I'm not that happy with my --- or anyone else's --- route selector. All of them work by selecting from a list of route numbers. Most people only care about buses in a small area, and many don't know route numbers (except for a few routes). I think something where you can choose routes entirely visually would be nice. I need to think about how to do it in a way that doesn't swamp the browser though: just drawing all routes at once takes about 5 minutes.

Do you have any plans to add a way to view arrival times on a selected stop?

I should add that. It wouldn't be too tricky.

 

[jeffkaufman]

Do you have any plans to add a way to view arrival times on a selected stop?

I should add that. It wouldn't be too tricky.

This should be active now. Click on a stop, see predicted arrivals.

 

[jeffkaufman]

I've added subways now:

Red, Orange, Blue

The MBTA has still not released green line data

 

[found5dollar]

Aparently Subway in station countdowns are coming this year.

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/26349100/detail.html

 

[jeffkaufman]

Subway countdowns would be great, especially at stations with no wireless coverage.