Here’s a great little video from the excellent Streetfilms on the benefits of “open data” for tracking public transport. Essentially, “open data” would include data that outlines timetables, bus stop/train station locations and (eventually) real-time information on where every bus train, train and ferry is in the whole city – with the key point being that the transit agency would make that data available for anyone who wants it. This would enable people and companies to come up with ingenious ways of packaging up the information and presenting it in innovative and useful ways.
I think we’re starting to see the spread of this data away from solely ARTA/Maxx, in that you can now work out when your next bus is coming or the best route from A to B on Google Maps rather than the highly archaic Maxx mapping system. However, having the information freed up so that anyone could have a go at making the most user-friendly way of providing top quality public transport information would be really great.
I look forward to the day when I can easily check my phone before I leave the house to work out exactly where my bus is, and know exactly when I need to leave the house to get to the bus stop just when the bus arrives – rather than having to wait there for 10-15 minutes like I invariably do each and every day.
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I don’t see NZ Bus realising information that will allow them to be judged so rigirously anytime soon..!
I look forward to the day that my mobile tells me when a peak hour bus is arriving with some room to sit down 🙂 . Feels like the Mount Eden B-line is a victim of it’s own success at the moment
Tim, too right.
I admit I don’t help the problem though as when I go to the supermarket if I’ve got a bit I’ll get the bus to the top of Symond St but I’ve noticed the last week or so the 274/75/77 are particularly full on the way home.
Come on Trickster, you don’t have to apolpgise forgoing about your buisiness using the bus!
The London Underground API that was being used by the Google Earth mashup guys (and which Admin posted a pointer to a month or so ago) seems to have been withdrawn. I saw some discussion that it was too popular. Maybe they need to beef up their IT infrastructure and bandwidth before they’ll reintroduce it?
GW/Metlink have made the timetable and stop data used by Google Transit publicly available (http://www.metlink.org.nz/google-transit-feed/). Don’t see why ARTA/Maxx can’t …
Kegan – I might be wrong, but I thought they already do? Try this as a starting point….
http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=-36.970278,174.739199&spn=0.854383,0.61708&dirflg=r
However, like other outlets for the Maxx advice it does not necessarily return the best route! I tried enquiring on a journey I did the other day – Mt Eden to Middlemore hospital, early morning – and it appeared to forget that you change train at Newmarket, instead directing me to change at Britomart when there was an option that was easier. Maxx really need to fix their data before they invest time in making errant guidance more widely available….
Yes Auckland has Google Transit but, AFAIK, ARTA have made the timetable and stop data behind it available to Google only and not to the general public. GW have made the data for Wellington freely available to anyone.
Taken a while to find this…
http://www.maxx.co.nz/information/about-maxx/google-transit-feed.html
…and there’s more. Sometimes ya just gotta love Google … sketchup, picasa, transit feeds ….mmmm.
http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/ScheduleViewer
This useful for illustrating potential routing options?
Also noticed that lots of applications are already hooked into the ARTA feed, through the GTFS broking house…
http://www.citygoround.org/apps/nearby/?q=auckland
Wow that’s pretty cool. Good to see Auckland’s public transport joining the 21st century for once!