NYC Archive

If you are a regular reader of CN, you already know that I am a huge fan of public transport — even though my friends (real friends not Facebook marketing friends) think I am “on crack” when I talk about buses and subways.

Last month I wrote about the launch of BusTime, a service that the NYC MTA (that’s the public transport organization) launched to help bus riders know where the next bus is currently located and how long before it arrives at the passenger’s desired boarding location. BusTime has been live on the M16 route in Manhattan since last April and was introduced in Brooklyn on the B63 route last month.

BusTime is powered by the One Bus Away open source software created by a team at the University of Washington.

Today I learned of a very cool mashup using the open-source BusTime and the popular voice API service Twilio. Developed by John Keefe, his application “tells you” when the next B63 bus will arrive. His colleague mentioned that she wanted a very simple way to know when the next bus would arrive to her stop and not have to use SMS or a fancy iPhone or Android mobile app. John build the mashup in one day and to use it is simple, John explains:

“Dial 646-480-7193. When prompted, enter 308333 or any of the bus stop codes for the B63 line.”

John’s blog post provides some great detail about how he coded the functionality using Twilio and some logic. He noted that Twilio charges $1/month for the phone number plus $0.01/call. It seems like you can’t go a day anymore without hearing about a neat hack using Twilio. Currently you need to know the bus stop code for your stop but I am sure eventually you might be able to just say the name of the stop into the phone.

What’s really awesome about John’s mashup is that anyone can use it as long as they have a phone – unlike many of the other travel services which require smart phones.

Last week I reported that the New York City transit agency (that’s the MTA) launched their realtime bus tracker called BusTime in Brooklyn on the B63 route. BusTime allows you the ability to view estimated bus arrival times and get updates via text message. It’s a really cool service and shows where the MTA is headed in terms of technology.

This week the MTA created a developer site for use with BusTime. The BusTime service is opensource and the MTA IT team is welcoming developers to offer suggestions and code changes to make the system even stronger.

BusTime is powered by the One Bus Away open source software created by a team at the University of Washington.

There’s also a SIRI API that developers can use with the BusTime service. SIRI, or Service Interface for Real Time Information, is defined as, “an XML standard covering a wide range of types of real-time information for public transportation.”

It’s awesome to see how technology can make using public transit easier and more efficient for riders and for the organizations that manage the systems.

One of the more popular requests I see on the startup discussion groups I belong to are entrepreneurs looking for co-founders to help them build their ideas towards a launch. If you are looking for a co-founder, I’ve found two upcoming events that might be worth checking out if you are in either city.

In Austin, the Co-Founders Austin group will be meeting on February 17 at the Austin Microsoft office. The event costs $10 and developers looking to join a startup can attend for free. The event will use the following format: 10 speaking slots available (3 minutes each) for startups looking for co-founders. You can read an overview of how this event will work here. While I am not looking for a co-founder for CloudContacts, I will attend this event and record all of the startup pitches.

In NYC, the Digital Media MBA group will meet on February 22 at the Cooley office in Midtown. This event costs $15 and will include “speed meets” and professional networking along with a panel discussion titled, “What is the best way to get started and find a co-founder?”

Both events look like they will have a good group of people to pitch and network with. Even if you aren’t looking for a co-founder, this might be a good place to meet some new startups and perhaps find a new employee for your startup.

Last April I reported that the New York City transit agency (that’s the MTA) launched a pilot program on the M16 and M34 bus lines which run up and down 34th street in Manhattan. The program is called BusTime and allows you to watch the buses move up and down 34th street online. You can also view estimated bus arrival times and get updates via text message.

It’s a really awesome technology because it could mean additional time at home and/or not waiting outside in the snow or rain for a bus that might be 20 minutes away. I would have loved BusTime on the horrible M50 route when I lived in Manhattan.

Today the MTA is launching the BusTime system on the first test line in Brooklyn, the B63. This line runs from Fort Hamilton to Cobble Hill. The B63 BusTime website still shows a “coming soon” message so I guess the arrival is late.

I can’t wait for the day that the BusTime system is available system-wide. Just imagine the fun watching the live map of all of the buses moving around the city!

When I tell my friends that the thing I miss most about NYC are my subways and buses, they think I have lost my marbles. They can’t understand why anyone would miss a subway system that has rats that jump on people while they sleep on trains. Even today, I am 5,000 miles from NYC yet I am monitoring the snow situation on both the rails and buses.

If you are like me (proudly raise your hand!) or if you want to help the earth deal with all of the toxic crap that more cars bring, check out the upcoming TransportationCamp. OpenPlans is producing the event and they describe why now is the perfect time for the unconference, “Transportation is a major metropolitan issue, with direct impacts on economic strength, environmental sustainability, and social equity.  Recent advances in technology (“web 2.0”, mobile computing, open source software, open data and APIs, and spatial analysis) present an opportunity to improve mobility more immediately and at a lower cost than has ever been possible in the past.”

There have been transit events in the past but this event will open to all types of transportation – from bike to rail.

The event organizers note, “major themes of discussion will include: open data — best practices and technical challenges, ways to lower the cost of technology for transportation agencies, and creative new approaches to addressing transportation issues.”

There will be two 2-day events – in NYC on March 5-6 and in San Francisco on March 19-20. Both events are free but donations are welcomed.

If you are a regular reader here at CN, you know that I am a big fan of public transit. I actually miss riding my subways in NYC now that I live in Texas (my friends think I am crazy!). It’s been so interesting and exciting to watch the MTA (that’s the NYC transit agency) embrace technology over the past 12-18 months.

At the MTA Transit Committee meeting for January 2011, there was some interesting information regarding RFID testing. The information begins by noting that on the 7 train line which runs from Times Square out to Main Street in Queens, they are testing a new train tracking system called the Interactive Train Registry Activity Console (I-Trac).

From the report, “The I-TRAC system is a web-based system with many advantages…updates can be implemented very quickly and will only require a refresh of the browser to be activated by the end-user. Updates will be performed between rush hours.”

During November 2010, the MTA tested RFID and GPS units along the 7 train line. From the report, “TIS installed barcode RFID tags on a 7 train so that the barcode could be read by a hand held device to test the GPS. On December 15, TIS conducted their RFID and GPS test on the 7 line at the Vernon-Jackson station.” The report continues, “The data will be captured via the trains, downloaded, converted to the Transit TIS system, and then broadcasted to the public. The GPS and RFID reader gave very good results. The RFID gave accurate readings of trains entering and leaving the stations…The next step will be for the vendor and Subways Engineering to conduct site surveys of three stations where RFID readers will be installed.”

The MTA has been testing countdown clocks at a variety of subway stations. My issue with these clocks is that they are only available after you have paid your fare and are waiting on the platform. It looks like these new RFID/GPS units will be able to broadcast realtime information so you can make a decision before you leave home or the office.

Disclaimer: I am a NY Giants football fan but as an international tech blogger, I have put aside any bias to compose this post and report facts accurately.

The New York Jets came close to making it to the Super Bowl today. Moments ago they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers — the Steelers will now play the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl. The real question is how did they get so close but lose the big one? The answer is simple… (I didn’t even need to ask on Quora!) they didn’t have enough social media.

Late last year I came up with a formula that I have been using to determine which team will win a particular game. I’d like to share the formula for the first time with you tonight. This formula took hundreds of hours of research and an international team of experts to compile the research. To make sure any device bias was removed, half the team used Android tablets and the other half used Windows Phones. We had to figure out which networks mattered, how they mattered, why they mattered.

The end result is the following formula:

W = fβ + my_ / cos(tm * alexa) * √ff – (tW² * Q) – YT/vid + LS½GR

Below is a graph of the W values for each of the 3 playoff games that the Jets participated in. As you can see, in games 1 and 2, they were able to keep a good level of W while in game 3, their W score dropped to a negative number which had our entire team concerned that the Jets would lose.

Continue reading “Jets Needed More Social Media” »