New York MTA Introduces iOS App with Real-Time Subway Arrival Info

MacRumors · Dec 29, 2012

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority just released a new app, MTA Subway Time, which provides accurate real-time information on subway arrivals for six of the numbered lines, including No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, plus the 42nd Street shuttle, covering 156 different stations in the city. Subway Time will allow commuters to plan trips down to the minute.

The app works with the countdown clocks that are linked to centralized computers, which have been installed in just seven of the city's 24 lines.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the system's age and the cost of upgrading has prevented it from being easily updated, though real-time coverage will roll out to other lines in the future. The first update will come in six to 12 months, when the L line is added.

The new app covers only about a third of the subway system, and agency officials acknowledged that it will likely take years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment before conveniences increasingly common elsewhere are standard in the Big Apple.

The rest, encompassing two-thirds of its total stations and roughly 60% of its daily ridership, continues to rely on signal technology dating to the middle of the 20th century or earlier. It will be years before those lines have signal systems that can generate the digital information that drives countdown clocks on platforms and apps on cellphones with live updates.

Other cities have been quicker to incorporate current technology into existing transit systems. California's Bay Area Rapid Transit System, or BART, for example, has developed a web-based mobile app and in 2007, the city released open format transit data that third party developers were able to incorporate into their own apps.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Chicago Transit Authority also provide information for third party developers.

New York Transit officials are hoping to inspire app developers to create third party apps as well, and a free live stream of arrival time data will be given to app developers.

Transit apps have become especially important with the release of iOS 6, because Apple Maps does not provide innate transit directions. Instead, the Maps program redirects users to download relevant routing apps like New York's new Subway Time.

MTA Subway Time can currently be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: New York MTA Introduces iOS App with Real-Time Subway Arrival Info

komodrone · Dec 29, 2012

ugly UI

kas23 · Dec 29, 2012

OK, now we need about 200 more of these apps to cover the majority of the subway times' for major cities.

FuNGi · Dec 29, 2012

I hope you all appreciate the chronological irony of this and the previous MR story about i-device theft in NYC.

Now there is more reason than ever to check your phone as you wait on the platform...

Shrink · Dec 29, 2012

FuNGi said:
I hope you all appreciate the chronological irony of this and the previous MR story about i-device theft in NYC.

Now there is more reason than ever to check your phone as you wait on the platform...

Or, perhaps, never take your phone out as you wait on the platform!

miknos · Dec 29, 2012

Or they could have some digital clock in every station so passengers could see when the train is coming.

mrrory · Dec 29, 2012

Downloaded and deleted within one minute. It seems like no care was taken designing this. Poor.

StuddedLeather · Dec 29, 2012

miknos said:
Or they could have some digital clock in every station so passengers could see when the train is coming.

We have that but only for certain lines, hence this app. It'll be a few more years before the entire system have it.

This app is specifically for the lines which already have the digital signs, which in short is stupid because the signs are active in the stations. Why would we need to look at our phones if we could just look at the countdown clocks?

For reference:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/nyregion/15bigcity.html

needfx · Dec 29, 2012

it should be presented with the Fugliest Design Award

brianbobcat · Dec 29, 2012

Chicago's CTA implemented almost real-time train tracking essentially for free by reading the data from their current signals as trains cross them, and combining that with data collected from previous trains to give a very close approximation on arrival time. Just another reason I like Chicago 1000x better than NY. Enjoy your 33% coverage, that sounds like AT&T's slogan.

StuddedLeather · Dec 29, 2012

brianbobcat said:
Chicago's CTA implemented almost real-time train tracking essentially for free by reading the data from their current signals as trains cross them, and combining that with data collected from previous trains to give a very close approximation on arrival time. Just another reason I like Chicago 1000x better than NY. Enjoy your 33% coverage, that sounds like AT&T's slogan.

Well this isn't "approximate" timing. This is actual real time. You would think a smaller city like Chicago would already be able to implement this technology to it's smaller system. It'll take a few more years for our entire system to be complete with real time tracking. Not approximate. We already have that.

3282868 · Dec 29, 2012

Seriously with this design? ASCII would have been a better choice.

waldobushman · Dec 29, 2012

Now New Yorkers can push people on to the tracks with precision.

JangoFett124 · Dec 29, 2012

StuddedLeather said:
This app is specifically for the lines which already have the digital signs, which in short is stupid because the signs are active in the stations. Why would we need to look at our phones if we could just look at the countdown clocks?

So that if the train isn't coming in 15 minutes I could catch a cab instead of walking to the subway stop. Etc.

RobNYC · Dec 29, 2012

StuddedLeather said:
We have that but only for certain lines, hence this app. It'll be a few more years before the entire system have it.

This app is specifically for the lines which already have the digital signs, which in short is stupid because the signs are active in the stations. Why would we need to look at our phones if we could just look at the countdown clocks?

For reference:
Image
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/nyregion/15bigcity.html

The clocks are great but what they really need to do is to put them outside the stations as well so you know how long you're going to have to wait before you go into the station. That would most helpful late at night.

allexp · Dec 29, 2012

Why no API?

I would just make API and give private developers to make the app. It will be much better and user friendly. There are many great developers that can do much better job on the UI and much more user friendly app.

StuddedLeather · Dec 29, 2012

JangoFett124 said:
So that if the train isn't coming in 15 minutes I could catch a cab instead of walking to the subway stop. Etc.

RobNYC said:
The clocks are great but what they really need to do is to put them outside the stations as well so you know how long you're going to have to wait before you go into the station. That would most helpful late at night.

Both points are true. I too agree though the MTA should try to put the clocks in an area before we pay. Perhaps by the token booth.

Once the technology gets expanded I can see the benefit of this app. Hopefully though the MTA will allow third parties to access the data to create their own apps. While the UI is horrible, it gets the job done.

Yujenisis · Dec 29, 2012

Welcome to the 21st Century, NYC!

Is this considered front page news simply because this is New York? Because they are pretty much the last major public transit system in America to do this.

brianbobcat · Dec 29, 2012

StuddedLeather said:
Well this isn't "approximate" timing. This is actual real time. You would think a smaller city like Chicago would already be able to implement this technology to it's smaller system. It'll take a few more years for our entire system to be complete with real time tracking. Not approximate. We already have that.

By approximate, I mean within 1 minute if not dead on. Chicago did it without needing to "take years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment". This was standard in Chicago a year ago, and they provide all that data free to any app developer. How's your tracking for the other 66% of rail lines not covered by this half-assed app? I get 100% train tracking coverage, do you?

rdlink · Dec 29, 2012

komodrone said:
ugly UI

mrrory said:
Downloaded and deleted within one minute. It seems like no care was taken designing this. Poor.

needfx said:
it should be presented with the Fugliest Design Award

So apparently you don't understand that this UI is pretty much dead on with MTA's own, non-virtual UI? It actually comes across quite nice, if you know that.

JangoFett124 · Dec 29, 2012

rdlink said:
So apparently you don't understand that this UI is pretty much dead on with MTA's own, non-virtual UI? It actually comes across quite nice, if you know that.

Either you're being sarcastic or you work for the MTA. This is the worst designed app I have ever seen, and I am not exaggerating.

StuddedLeather · Dec 29, 2012

brianbobcat said:
By approximate, I mean within 1 minute if not dead on. Chicago did it without needing to "take years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment". This was standard in Chicago a year ago, and they provide all that data free to any app developer. How's your tracking for the other 66% of rail lines not covered by this half-assed app? I get 100% train tracking coverage, do you?

It's funny that you think you know what you're talking about. Let me first say I don't work for the MTA and I admit we should have a better way of tracking the trains. With that said though, no system in America is as advanced as ours, system wise or actual trains. Not to mention the fact that Brooklyn's ridership alone trumps other major cities for ridership (Chicago Brooklyn). When you combine the TOTAL system ridership forget it, we're light years ahead for the US.

I mention the ridership because we don't have the luxury to just shut down our system like other cities have. It'll take years of work and millions of dollars in new investment because of the old track work/tunnels/24/7 service, the technology wouldn't work on the old system. Building and expanding in NY is expensive, you would think someone from the 2nd city would be able to comprehend this

.

Ralf The Dog · Dec 29, 2012

Cool, when I am in NYC, I spend 90% of my time on the 1,2,3 lines.

Most of the rest of the time, I walk.

StuddedLeather said:
We have that but only for certain lines, hence this app. It'll be a few more years before the entire system have it.

This app is specifically for the lines which already have the digital signs, which in short is stupid because the signs are active in the stations. Why would we need to look at our phones if we could just look at the countdown clocks?

For reference:
Image
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/nyregion/15bigcity.html

It's good to tell you if you need to walk or run to catch the next train.

JangoFett124 said:
Either you're being sarcastic or you work for the MTA. This is the worst designed app I have ever seen, and I am not exaggerating.

The question is, does it work or not. A cool UI would be nice, however, a slightly clunky design or a ugly font will not turn me off of a useful tool.

Carlanga · Dec 29, 2012

Nice, but why does it cost millions to update the system though? I would assume some detection camaras and math can accomplish tracking accurately?

DaveTheRave · Dec 29, 2012

RobNYC said:
The clocks are great but what they really need to do is to put them outside the stations as well so you know how long you're going to have to wait before you go into the station. That would most helpful late at night.

I think thats the point of the app. Seeing the wait times before you get to the subway station.

----------

StuddedLeather said:
Once the technology gets expanded I can see the benefit of this app. Hopefully though the MTA will allow third parties to access the data to create their own apps. While the UI is horrible, it gets the job done.

They're starting to do this now: http://www.mta.info/apps/

I think they realize they're not experts in app development and are willing to make the data available to anyone who wants it.

----------

Carlanga said:
Nice, but why does it cost millions to update the system though? I would assume some detection camaras and math can accomplish tracking accurately?

The subway system is ancient. When sections of the system got wiped out because of Hurricane Sandy, they realized that some parts could not be easily replaced because they were so old the companies that made them had gone out of business years ago. There's so much ~100-year old technology underground.

New York MTA Introduces iOS App with Real-Time Subway Arrival Info

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