I've actually suggested something similar to this...

Many bus stops are currently located near businesses, but don't have convenient network access or power access, or the expense is difficult to justify based on stop ridership.

However, information displays (any old computer and a monitor, really) can be set up just inside windows of businesses near bus stops, given a reliable network connection and the right web interface. The businesses could even co-brand the displays with logos or promotions... given what some businesses pay to "capture eyeballs", it could be a win-win situation for both riders and retailers.

I would love to have an atom feed for transit surfer; for regular commuters, I guess a feed per line per direction would be sufficient?

It would also be nice to have an SMS interface, either to transit surfer or the transit tracker phone service.

We have a couple of options for SMS via 3rd party services. See http://portlandtransport.com/archives/2007/08/transit_arrival_1.html for discussion.

The atom feed should be considered experimental, but there are two forms:

http://tsrf.us/cgi-bin/atom.pl?stop=8899

for using with an individual stop

or

http://tsrf.us/cgi-bin/atom.pl?id=goodsaminbound

for using with a choice set id (same choice sets we use with the transit board).

I use an extremely high-tech device to figure out/estimate when my bus is coming.

It's called a printed schedule.

100% recyclable, biodegradable, and easy to replace if one gets lost, wet, or worn out. :)

(Jason takes a look at his printed transit info. loss from this morning's downpour...)

Anyone know if the Pioneer Courthouse Square office still has any of the current printed system maps?

Jason Barbour Says:

It's called a printed schedule.

Luddite. Why do you hate electricity?

Anyone know if the Pioneer Courthouse Square office still has any of the current printed system maps?

Yes. And yes, they do.

"I use an extremely high-tech device to figure out/estimate when my bus is coming.

It's called a printed schedule."

Feh. I eschew such trappings of modern technology, these products of your "paper mills" and "printing presses." Instead, I rely entirely on the ancient verbal tradition of transit arrival times. Grandma, tell me again what time the 14 Hawthorne comes?

Actually, I'm holding out for the application that shows you a real-time Google map view, with little GPS-tracked bus icons converging on your location.

With VR goggles.

I like my chumby I use it as a high tech alarm clock that reads me my email and reminds me of when homework projects are due.

I like Transit Surfer because it gives me real time arrivals information for multiple stops.

information displays...can be set up just inside windows of businesses near bus stops

I know that the Streetcar arrivals board at the PSU Urban Center stop is located in the Pizzacato window, and I've seen a Transit Tracker display (probably consisting of a standard PC) inside the Washington Square Mall. In addition, someone mentioned here that there are arrivals displays inside the Kaiser clinics on Interstate.

Overall, you could use some really old computer since all it would be doing is displaying a Web page, or hook up the monitor to an existing server as a 2nd desktop.

Yes, the trick is to create an application (probably in Javascript) which updates the desired web page smoothly, and gracefully handles network downtime (doesn't display a cryptic error message but removes the displayed arrival times), and restarts itself without any intervention whatsoever. Aside from the initial installation and network setup, this should require zero effort on the part of the business -- if it's easy and reliable, it can become widespread.

You could even envision an organization like Free Geek providing transit arrival displays for retirement communities, apartment complexes, etc.

That's a pretty good description of what Transit Board does. Not sure how well it does on the 'restarts itself' front :-)

And in fact pretty soon I'm going to be telling you about some Free Geek boxes used for just this purpose...

A cell phone and a call to 238-ride is the best way to find out when your bus is coming.

Jason, do you really find the schedules accurate?

i'm seeking a tiny application that lives in a corner of my desktop thats always on and tells me when the streetcar will arrive at my local stop. i live right on the line and would like to know fairly instantly when i can run to catch it. or even a little icon i can run my cursor over in the bottom right corner of the screen by the clock that pops up with arrival times (PC comp).

If you can find an RSS reader widget that updates frequently (i.e., like once a minute), the RSS feed would do that.

Alternately, you could run the Transit Surfer in a very small browser window.

I think NextBus also has some widgets if Streetcar is your only interest.

i seem to only see these for mac, i know very little about these widgets, where do i find the rss feed for nextbus?

a streetcar/#77 arrival time reader board would be great in the new safeway in the pearl, is there some way for major businesses to get readerboards? afterall if you just miss the streetcar you can get a coffee at the store's starbucks and sit by the fireplace and piano while you wait for the next one to arrive.

All it takes is a PC with internet access (any flavor of OS) and a big screen and we can put up a Transit Board.

I don't hate electricity, but I am sort of a traditionalist when it comes to bus schedules. :) (Anyone else remember when the printed TriMet schedules for many routes said something like 'buses are approximately 15 minutes apart from 8 AM to 3 PM?' I really hated that.)

I'm not knocking on new technology, I just have no real use for various 'higher tech devices.' I completely realize that they work for others, but at the same time I personally don't miss the monthly bills or purchase prices, either.

A cell phone and a call to 238-ride is the best way to find out when your bus is coming.

Jason, do you really find the schedules accurate?

I simply know that some routes/runs are more on-time than others. For example, if I have to use 71, I know that it's going to show when it shows. One bus is probably running late, causing the next to run early, which causes the third to run late, etc., and the cycle has the possibility of repeating until end of service. As another example, runs on other routes like 14 and 72 can get delayed as well (especially during weekday rush hour), but with the headways as they are on both routes there's almost always no reason to complain.

And yes, I have called Transit Tracker occasionally (when I'm at home and next to my phone), and used Transit Surfer before (when I'm somewhere near a computer that lets me access any website). Real-time arrivals, however, don't help with determining how long the trip will take, how long I can plan on waiting for a transfer to another route, and/or when I'll be using any non-TriMet route.

Even with all of this, the only way of really knowing when the bus shows up is when it actually does, and it actually stops to board passengers. I've watched the Transit Tracker displays at various places "hang" at something like 4 minutes for quite a while or says 'scheduled at #:##,' and doesn't show up at all, and/or a bus shows up that's either so full it can't board anyone else (or officially says "Drop Off Only"). I've also seen buses show up that don't even seem to be on Transit Tracker.

You could even envision an organization like Free Geek providing transit arrival displays for retirement communities, apartment complexes, etc.

And in fact pretty soon I'm going to be telling you about some Free Geek boxes used for just this purpose...

I will say that's a good use for an old computer. Were the boxes used built to standard Grantbox spec.? Or were some really old ones used along with some sort of low-RAM OS and applications? I guess I'll just have to wait to find out... :)