NYC Metro Live

Here is a picture of the subway platform at Bedford Ave in Brooklyn, available for non-commercial use under the Creative Commons license:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chartno3/5784272992/

This is a research paper published by The Transparency Policy Project which examines the ways that various metropolitan transit agencies have shared their operations data with the public and how developers have utilized this data.

http://www.transparencypolicy.net/assets/FINAL_UTC_TransitTransparency_8%2028%202012.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/business/media/06transit.html?_r=0

Alex Morgan Bell proposed an application that would run in the background of many smartphones and track when the phone lost service and when it reconnected to a cell network. By using the input of many phones and processing algorithms, the app may be able to tell what train a phone has taken and locations of various trains.

Example of Automated Train tracking

http://www.sfmunicentral.com/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/subwayarrival/id402247424?mt=8

The Trains operated by the central computer are numbered while Driver operated trains are shown in black because the current line of the train is unknown to the computer.

Earth Cam time square:

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/timessquare/index.php?goto=live

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.

This subway simulation by Railbandit, mentioned in the NY Times article about the MTA app contest, is very close to what I envisioned for the how the app would look. However, it is still only a simulation, a time-lapse depiction of train movements during a normal weekday derived from the MTA’s published schedule, without any real-time functionality. Railbandit also has a sophisticated mobile app for the NYC subway that shows upcoming departure times for trains, but I think it is still based on published schedules and does not gather any real-time information on actual train movement.

By A. Adams

Maps of Subway Platforms, Now on Your Mobile Phone

This app provides customer a map of all the shortest routes from the train cars to the exits of the train station and nearby streets for the price of $1.99. This tool is good for saving time, and improving the daily experience of traveling in the city. Commuters, tourists, rush hour workers, students chronically late for class, procrastinators, and the general public would find this useful a tool for navigating the city.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/maps-of-subway-platforms-now-on-your-mobile-phone/

New App lets Subway Rider Access Artwork

This app allows the user to view information about art installations in subway stations in the form of images and text it also shows a map of the artworks locations in the train station. This transforms the experience of the subway station as means of travel into the destination for tourists.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20080909a3.html

Guide maker blazes trail to success

In Japan’s major metropolitan city of Tokyo train stations are fast paced, vast and complex. A mapping app made by entrepreneur Yasuyo Fukui shows users the key locals of bathrooms, exits, entrances, train tracks, transfer points, and the shorts routes between them all. This app clears up major confusion that plagues both citizens and tourist alike. Apps like this and others provide the general public useful information, a service that enhances their traveling experience, and tool that can be used by a large demographic of people.

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/new-app-lets-subway-riders-access-artwork

Tokyo subway iPhone apps:
http://www.presselite.com/iphone/tokyosubwayforipad/

MTA Android app SchedNYC:
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.knickerbockerapps.schednyc&hl=en

MTA App center:
http://www.mta.info/apps/

MTA working on implementing real-time data feed for subway:
groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/mtadeveloperresources/0KiNuapVLhk

Listed below are two newspaper articles about subway applications that are similar to our project.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20080909a3.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/nyregion/in-mta-app-contest-many-buttons-worth-pushing.html

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/new-app-lets-subway-riders-access-artwork

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