subway Archive

At the MTA developer conference last week, one of the attendees asked MTA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jay Walder what three types of applications he would like to see built. I’ve posted the video below which is very much worth watching if you are already building a mobile app or looking for an idea for a mobile app to build.

Walder discusses how the NYC transit system runs 24 hours a day 365 days a year – something only a few other transit systems employ. The challenge he explains is how to communicate when there are changes to the normal routine. He compares how here in NYC we typically don’t shut down full subway lines, but tweak them which makes the process of getting from point A to point B “enormously complicated.” He wants a combination of trip planning and current system changes into an app that tells you how to get where you need to go right now instead of right now plus you need to navigate signage at the platform.

The second app type Walder would like built is countdown clocks for buses. The really interesting part of the video even for non-developers is how the system works to be able to generate countdown clocks for buses. It all comes down to algorithms.

The third challenge is getting the data to people — and also realizing that there is no standardization of devices. And Walder explains that it’s not good enough to have great apps for the newest iPhone and Android device, but we need to be able to get the data and information out to devices that might be many years old.

He concludes by talking about smart card systems and how the change in payment type doesn’t change the actual act of paying for a transit fare.

I was very impressed with Mr. Walder and hope I get a chance to meet him one day. It’s important to note that he is holding his current position until I decide to take it – should be sometime in 2012.

Here’s the video from Mr. Walder:
Continue reading “MTA CEO Tells You What Apps To Build” »

At the MTA developer conference last night, Jonathan Wegener, the founder of mobile app Exit Strategy NYC presented his transit application. We covered the 1.0 release of Exit Strategy on InsideTransit last summer. It’s one of my favorite transit apps even though I don’t have a device that can run the app.

The first version of Exit Strategy told you where to stand on a subway platform to get you as close as possible to your desired exit at your destination. Let’s say you are planning to take the 1 train northbound from 14th street to 50th street. You get to the platform at 14th street and are standing where the first car will stop. You wait 6 minutes for a train and when the train arrives you board the first car. When you exit at 50th street you realize the only exit on the platform is at the complete other end of the train. Had you known this in advance, you easily could have walked the length of the train while waiting at 14th street and thereby maximized your time when you arrived at your destination. Many railfans like myself know the exits but for the average rider, Exit Strategy NYC is a must have.

The new 2.0 version adds what they call, “Enter Strategy”. Basically what they have done is integrate the neighborhood maps the MTA creates that show you where the subway entrances near a station. These maps are typically located near the token booth clerks at each station. With the new Exit Strategy NYC, the maps are loaded into the app and can be accessed underground.

Exit Strategy NYC is available for the iPhone at a cost of $4.99. They have lite versions available for the Blackberry, Android and the Kindle.
Continue reading “Exit Strategy NYC Adds Enter Strategy” »

At the MTA developer conference last night, the founder of Clever Commute presented his startup which helps transit riders learn about delays and other updates quicker than the transit agencies can provide. Currently the service is focused on New Jersey Transit and the commuter rail in NYC.

The concept behind Clever Commute is relatively simple – you are sitting on a train or bus in New Jersey and a traffic jam appears in front of you or the conductor makes an announcement that delays will be more than 15 minutes. You use your mobile phone to send an email to Clever Commute with the time, transit line and the nature of the issue. Clever Commute sends out emails to all of their members who have requested information about that line or region.

The application is free and the founder notes that he has signed deals with local radio and television stations to provide their reports to the stations to share with their viewers and listeners. They are also generating revenue through ads that are placed below the alerts.

Here’s the video overview of Clever Commute:
Continue reading “Clever Commute Crowdsources Transit Delays (video)” »

Tonight the NYC transit authority (aka the MTA) held their first developer conference in NYC. I attended the first half and have recorded a variety of videos and photos which I will post over the next couple of days with my thoughts on the event. Overall it’s awesome to see the MTA embracing technology and the developer community.

One of the audience questions asked MTA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jay Walder about when we might see WiFi signals and cell phone access across the buses, subways and commuter rail.

Mr. Walder noted that some things make him frustrated and the answer as to when we will have cell signals in the subway is one of those things as the answer goes on for pages and pages of explanation of why it won’t happen this decade.

There is a current MTA RFP for wireless service on commuter rail trains (that’s the LIRR and Metro-North).
Continue reading “MTA Chief Walder: Cell Signals Coming to NYC Subways (video)” »

As many of you know, I am a bus and subway fan – I love public transit. If I ever sold CN, I would focus my blogging efforts on my transit blog, InsideTransit.

I’ve got to give some credit to the NYC MTA team members who have been participating in the New York City subway and bus developer group. The team is very responsive to all of the questions and requests that hit the group from developers looking to build on top of the APIs and other developer offerings from the transit authority.

Today MTA employee Sarah Kaufman has posted some great news…the first real-time API is now available for testing. The API is based on the real-time bus information on the 34th street bus line (that’s routed M16 and M34). The test will run through August 10th and the data stream will be stopped on that date. If you want to use the API, you must request a key by April 19th.

You can learn more about today’s real-time API announcement on the developer forum.

My hope is that someone creates a mashup with Google Maps similar to the Swiss train mashup where you can watch the trains move in real-time.

In the old days, there were two main ways to get anywhere from Boston to Washington using public transit. Those two ways were Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses. Over the past few years, new bus services that travel along the northeast corridor have popped up including Bolt Bus and Megabus. Both of these new bus services offer very inexpensive fares and also offer free Wi-Fi service (Bolt Bus is partially owned by Greyhound). When I speak with entrepreneurs that travel anywhere from Boston to Washington, many have started to use the buses over Amtrak because of the Wi-Fi and the lower cost.

Last week Amtrak announced the launch of Wi-Fi service on their fleet of Acela Express trains.  Acela Express is the luxury, “faster” train service that runs from Boston to Washington and costs a bit more than the traditional Amtrak train service. The new Wi-Fi service is free to all travelers.

The free Wi-Fi service is also available inside the stations that Acela services including NY Penn Station and Washington Union Station. So now we have a new place to use free Wi-Fi in Penn Station!

I wonder how the Acela Wi-Fi handles travel inside the tunnels. It’s great news that Amtrak is finally starting to move forward with technology on their trains. While the announcement notes that there are no firm plans to add Wi-Fi to their other trains, the sooner they add the service, the sooner they could look to potentially taking people off the buses and onto the trains. And frankly, if the service quality is good, Amtrak should charge a small fee for it. If the airlines charge, so should Amtrak.

I’m currently working on a cool startup called SubMate. SubMate allows you to discover the familiar strangers you see every day in the subway. This super cool idea has some history. Here is how I learnt some basic entrepreneurship lessons, the hard way.

About 4 years ago (early 2006), while I was living in New York, we sat down with a good friend to tackle an idea we had. It turned out to be a cool idea, something that would solve a problem (or fill a gap) we all knew. The service we imagined would allow subway commuters to discover and meet each other. SubMate was born.

In brief, we failed. We failed for various reasons, and it took us two years to pull the plug. 
Continue reading “A Happy Failure Story: Lessons Learned From My First Startup” »