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Metro Adds Real-Time Data to Trip Planner
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Metro transit has added a new feature to our Trip Planner which includes a display of bus positions on a map in real time for all 75 bus routes in the St. Louis region.
A “Real Time Map” link has been added to the Trip Planner. To find the link, you access the Trip Planner as you have always done. There are no new steps to take.
When you click the “Real Time Map” link, you may select your desired bus route and direction. From there, our system will show the number of buses currently operating on that route and their locations. The real-time data is updated every 60 seconds.
In addition to pinpointing where a MetroBus vehicle is on a route, you can also find the status of a particular bus route and plan accordingly. A bus can show four different status symbols, and they include: on time, early, late or no information available.
To access additional information about a particular bus vehicle, you just click on the bus. Then you can find out how many minutes a bus is running ahead or behind schedule.
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Please make a mobile version of this!
We plan to release a mobile app, which will include real time information, in late 2014.
Backprop, the new real-time map feature can be used in various ways and we hope riders use it to better their transit experience. For example, the real-time map can be used to tell if a bus on schedule to arrive early or running a bit late. With this knowledge, riders can head out the door a little early or hang back a few minutes. Also, the real-time map feature can be the decision maker if a rider is deciding between two nearby bus routes.
That being said, we do plan to release a mobile app, which will include real time information, in late 2014.
Why not release an API and let anyone create a mobile app?
Scott, great question. We try and provide developers the tools to build their own apps. You are more than welcome to visit our developer resource page here: https://metrostlouis.org/About/DeveloperResource.aspx
As for real-time data, we currently developing a General Transit Feed Specification or GTFS feed for developer use.
Thanks for the pointer to the developer page. However, from what I see, and I believe what you alluded to above, the real-time data is not available to developers (yet). Why not make this available now? You are already using it in your Real Time map, so the data is clearly available if you just tell developers where to look for it.
There are three pieces to the GTFS Real Time Feed. One is already complete, but we are working on wrapping up the rest.
I hope the real time tracking will encourage bus drivers who are ahead of schedule to slow down… I know my bus is always 5 minutes early, but I worry it can discourage new riders if the bus is gone once they arrive at the bus stop.