Official MTA BusTime Discussion

[Amtrak7]

Maybe this is the real reason Queens is coming last. When they announce that a borough has Bus Time, the public expects all buses in that borough to have Bus Time. So they had to announce the Bronx before Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens, and they had to announce Brooklyn before Queens, as well. SI made sense as the first borough because it has the by far the smallest population and also the fewest bus trips, so it works as a test market. Then the Bronx had to come before the others. Once SI and Bx were online, they were confident enough to bring the big borough online. That sealed Queens' fate, since it had to come after Brooklyn.

 

Not exactly, since the Q44 serves the Bronx. The order I originally expected was:

 

-SI (test bed, low frequencies)

-Brooklyn (B63 and B61 have it already)

-Queens (Brooklyn shares routes with Queens, busy)

-Bronx

-Manhattan (Last because of operational challenges w/ routes depending on dead reckoning most of the time as opposed to 50%)

 

I don't know why they chose Bronx before Brooklyn, especially given that there was already some BusTime there. And why the B63 as the first pilot route?

[Cait Sith]

Not exactly, since the Q44 serves the Bronx. The order I originally expected was:

 

-SI (test bed, low frequencies)

-Brooklyn (B63 and B61 have it already)

-Queens (Brooklyn shares routes with Queens, busy)

-Bronx

-Manhattan (Last because of operational challenges w/ routes depending on dead reckoning most of the time as opposed to 50%)

 

I don't know why they chose Bronx before Brooklyn, especially given that there was already some BusTime there. And why the B63 as the first pilot route?

 

Should also factor in the fleet. The youngest bus fleet in The Bronx statistically are the Orion Vs from 1998/1999. Brooklyn still has buses from 1996 which were supposed to be retired/sent to MTA Bus. I firmly believe the fleet is why Manhattan is getting it next considering that their youngest are RTSs from 1998-1999.

[NewFlyer 230]

I thought that buses that were from before 2001 were not suppose to get GPS's due to them being close to retirement. Why would more 1998-1999 Orion's and RTS's get GPS's when they will be gone in a year or two?

[S78 via Hylan]

They might be around a bit longer..... at least that's what I've heard.

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

BusTime isnt working yet for Manhattan

[Abba]

Correct.someome here said to start today.

Don't be surprised if it took another year...this project is the slowest I've seen

[nycmaps]

I'm creating a website and mobile app that shows every Bus Time bus live on a map:

 

 

Blue is local, green is express, purple is limited, cyan is SBS, red is a service alert, gray is idle/layover. The arrows show which direction the bus is facing. Hovering your cursor over a bus gives you more information, clicking it shows only that route:

 

 

I also want to add live, updated arrival times (not just distance away) using algorithms that other transit systems use. A faster, more visual trip planner is also a goal, plus custom schedules that show only the stops you use, not the ones the MTA puts in its PDF schedules. (Also, the schedules wouldn't be annoying PDFs!) I'd also like to create a "geek mode" where you can see additional info about each bus, like its make and model and the depot it belongs to, and you can search for buses by ID number, model, depot, etc. Any other special request might be addable to geek mode.

 

I actually published this website earlier in September as a preview, and it unexpectedly exploded in popularity in just four hours and slowed the MTA’s system to such a crawl that the MTA had to revoke my access to the data. I found out later that even in those four hours it was live, it had reached the top of NYC Reddit and several sites had already written about it, including Time Out. Crazy. But the problem was, I didn't have my own server, so all of these people were pulling data directly from the MTA, which the MTA couldn't keep up with. So I have to get my own server for that, and it turns out that streaming real-time data like this costs more money than regular web hosting. But I'm a broke programmer who is, as of today, late on rent.

 

And then I found out there was a contest from the MTA and AT&T offering $50,000 in cash prizes to people who develop apps for the MTA! Great! That's actually life-changing for me. All I have to do is ... enter by August 20. I found out about it two weeks late.

 

It felt pretty awful to see how my life could have been and how my money woes could be over, if only I had seen that contest. Seriously, just think about how cruel it is to be shown how you missed out on not being poor anymore.

 

So... bringing my hopes back down to earth, this is just an idea: Would anybody be willing to donate anything for beta access to the website while I develop its features? That way I can get hosting, which will be cheaper since only the beta users will be using it. I'll give access to anyone who donates anything at all. Just PM me with your email and I can send you the link.

 

Does anyone have any ideas, questions, or feature requests?

[nycmaps]

My assumption is that they were referring to internal testing. When the Bronx rolled out, there was internal testing, then it went public at the end of the month.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

This looks pretty messy.  What would be the purpose of being able to see every bus live??  I think this would be better suited for management rather than the general public.  At the most, I need to see the next express bus I'm transferring to and for that I certainly don't need to see every bus running.

[nycmaps]

A) You can select just the bus you want, but it will have more features than the MTA's Bus Time site (and as you can see in the second animation, it's a lot faster and more responsive than the MTA's site). With the mobile app, you would see, when you open the app, your actual location and the buses and stops nearest to you. It could detect if you're at a stop and show arrival times immediately. When you select a bus, you could get an alert when your bus is coming. And once you're on the bus, you could get another alert when you're getting to your stop, so you would never miss your stop again.

B) Because it's cool.

[Around the Horn]

This looks pretty messy.  What would be the purpose of being able to see every bus live??  I think this would be better suited for management rather than the general public.  At the most, I need to see the next express bus I'm transferring to and for that I certainly don't need to see every bus running.

All haters^ aside,I think this is a great app in the making and would use this alot...Did you show this to the MTA?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

B) You can select just the bus you want, but it will have more features than the MTA's Bus Time site. With the mobile app, you would see, when you open the app, your actual location and the buses and stops nearest to you. It could detect if you're at a stop and show arrival times immediately. When you select a bus, you could get an alert when your bus is coming. And once you're on the bus, you could get another alert when you're getting to your stop, so you would never miss your stop again.

lol... An alert for when you're getting to your stop.  Granted it's nice but are people that lazy or just that stupid? 

 

 

All haters^ aside,I think this is a great app in the making and would use this alot...Did you show this to the MTA?

I'm giving my honest opinion.  I think it's a good app as well. Just looking at the flip side.

[nycmaps]

Did you show this to the MTA?

 

Oh, the MTA definitely knows about it. It slowed their site down, remember? 

 

Also, I forgot to mention, beta testers will be the ones to vote on whether to make the app for iOS or Android first.

An alert for when you're getting to your stop.  Granted it's nice but are people that lazy or just that stupid?

 

You've never noticed anyone reading, napping or being distracted with their phones/iPods on public transit? People do miss their stops. And having an alert means those of us who pay attention can now engross ourselves in a novel, too.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

You've never noticed anyone reading, napping or being distracted with their phones/iPods on public transit? People definitely miss their stops. And having an alert means those of us who pay attention can now engross ourselves in a novel, too.

Oh I notice it quite a bit and I think it's ridiculous that people are that self-absorbed that they miss their stop.  We had one guy on the BxM18 sometime last year fall asleep. The B/O got up to try to wake him up by speaking to him verbally and even I nudged him and he sat there like he was sleeping at home.  I said to myself how in the hell do you sleep so hard that you don't even feel anyone touching you? For people like that I don't think the alerts would work.  

 

Creating apps for people to become even more self-absorbed seems preposterous if you ask me, though it is useful for those who are legitimately lost.

[nycmaps]

I just want to read a book. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I just want to read a book. 

lol... What sort of alert would they get exactly?

[nycmaps]

There would be options of how far away to get an alert and whether it would be a vibration or a chime.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

There would be options of how far away to get an alert and whether it would be a vibration or a chime.

How cute! 

[MHV9218]

This looks pretty messy. What would be the purpose of being able to see every bus live?? I think this would be better suited for management rather than the general public. At the most, I need to see the next express bus I'm transferring to and for that I certainly don't need to see every bus running.

Jeez, what crawled up your ass and died with all of these comments? There are a variety of uses, and one of the most important to me would be to be able to gauge travel by location. Have a quick look at the map and see all the approaching buses to your stop while knowing the exact streets (letting you figure out traffic, etc) to let you decide which approaching bus makes the most sense. A lot better than calling up individual lines and getting vague estimates by stop and then figuring out which makes the most sense. Not to mention, it's a very cool graphic view of transit coverage and consistency by district that the urban planner on me likes a whole lot. Keep perpetuating the express bus a**hole stereotype!

[bobtehpanda]

Would this app take up a lot of bandwidth or data? Most carriers don't offer unlimited data, with the exception of Sprint. But if you have Sprint, you might as well have a limited data plan.
 

After all, New York City does have the largest, busiest bus network in the nation.

 

(The express bus overlay should also be separate from the local bus overlay, because you would probably be having a different clientele for either service.)

 

(Also, just going to point out that while blue/purple/cyan is the official MTA scheme, it's extremely similar on the color spectrum. Red/Green isn't too great either either.)

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Jeez, what crawled up your ass and died with all of these comments? There are a variety of uses, and one of the most important to me would be to be able to gauge travel by location. Have a quick look at the map and see all the approaching buses to your stop while knowing the exact streets (letting you figure out traffic, etc) to let you decide which approaching bus makes the most sense. A lot better than calling up individual lines and getting vague estimates by stop and then figuring out which makes the most sense. Not to mention, it's a very cool graphic view of transit coverage and consistency by district that the urban planner on me likes a whole lot. Keep perpetuating the express bus a**hole stereotype!

Oh please... And how many different ways can you get to one place with the local bus without one requiring a ton of transfers?  With the look of that map having all of those buses on the map, I don't see how you could even see anything.  I deal with that now when I use the Desktop feature with my Android and have to zoom in to try to get through the maze of buses to the ones that I need to track.  

 

(The express bus overlay should also be separate from the local bus overlay, because you would probably be having a different clientele for either service.)

 

 

Very true.

[MHV9218]

Oh please... And how many different ways can you get to one place with the local bus without one requiring a ton of transfers?  With the look of that map having all of those buses on the map, I don't see how you could even see anything.  I deal with that now when I use the Desktop feature with my Android and have to zoom in to try to get through the maze of buses to the ones that I need to track.  

 

Very true.

 

Let's say I'm standing on Park and 106th and I want to go to the East Village. I can walk west and take the M1, M2, or M3, or if I walk east I can take the M101, M102, or M103. I don't really want to plug in 6 different routes into BusTime and see what the results are like, so I look at the full view and make a decision.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Let's say I'm standing on Park and 106th and I want to go to the East Village. I can walk west and take the M1, M2, or M3, or if I walk east I can take the M101, M102, or M103. I don't really want to plug in 6 different routes into BusTime and see what the results are like, so I look at the full view and make a decision.

lol... You can do that with Bus Time.  Just plug in your location and see what buses are coming.  I've done it on Staten Island on Victory Blvd.  In most cases though in the outer boroughs, you don't have a plethora of options like you do in Manhattan.

[MHV9218]

And you're gonna argue the visual format isn't more intuitive?

[nycmaps]

Would this app take up a lot of bandwidth or data? Most carriers don't offer unlimited data, with the exception of Sprint. But if you have Sprint, you might as well have a limited data plan.

I've already thought about how I could create a low-bandwidth version. Having my own server will help with this, since I can intercept the MTA's data and strip it down to only what the mobile user needs (only the buses near them, for example). There are other tricks I can pull off.

 

The express bus overlay should also be separate from the local bus overlay.

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that one of the options will be to be able to check and uncheck which bus types to show.

 

Also, just going to point out that while blue/purple/cyan is the official MTA scheme, it's extremely similar on the color spectrum. Red/Green isn't too great either.

I wrestled with this, but you can hover your cursor over a bus for the info spelled out, and in several cases the info can be gleaned just from the route number. And I think using unofficial colors could be confusing. There are six colors anyway, so some are going to be near each other or difficult for the colorblind no matter what I do.