MTA Real-Time Subway Data Feed

The MTA is currently “designing a developers’ web feed of subway arrival estimates
(‘countdown clock data’) for the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 subway lines.” It sends out revised departure/arrival time estimates 30 min. before each scheduled departure and indicates if a physical train actually makes the scheduled trip. This data is open and intended for developers working on apps like we are proposing. As far as I can tell, this system depends on manual updates from station operators. I’m thinking it would be more efficient if there were sensors placed at intervals along the subway tunnels. As a train passes a sensor, a message is transmitted indicating where the train actually is in the system. The dots representing trains on our visualization would be updated accordingly. This would be much more accurate and meaningful than estimates sent out half-an-hour beforehand.