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Comment by rkuykendall-com | Hacker News Reader

App request: Android app, I enter "my" subway stops and the direction I take them ( Ex: The 1 train, uptown, from 116th ), the App simply shows me how many minutes until the next train.

I want something I can quickly open and glance at to know when I should leave, or if I should be sprinting to the station to save myself 20m late at night.

1 minute mock up:

http://rkuykendall.com/uploads/subway-app-mock-up.jpg

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The Transit app is pretty close to what you want; I use it all the time. It includes live times on lines that support it. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thetransit...

The arrival times listed on the website are likely just timetable times. Until the MTA releases real time data, I wouldn't depend too heavily on scheduled train times (especially during rush hour).

The MTA already provides real time data for the numbered lines [1] and some buses [2].

[1] http://datamine.mta.info/ [2] http://bustime.mta.info/wiki/Developers/Index

They do, but it's GTFS format...

What's so horrifying about the GTFS format?

Doesn't the Citymapper app [1] do this for New Yorkers? Does all this and more for Londoners.

[1] https://citymapper.com/nyc/

Yeah, Citymapper works well for me since I live near two different numbered line stops (ones that actually have live times). I can decide which station to go to ahead of time. I also have it push alerts to me when there are delays on my most common train lines.

Citymapper may have the real-time stuff, and the UI is good, but it seems the suggested routes are suboptimal.

An example: From 220 Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn to 1 East 28th Street, Manhattan to arrive by 10 AM on Monday:

* Google [1] correctly lists 5+6 (28 mins), 4+5 (26 mins) and Q+R (27 mins) at the best options.

* Citymapper [2] choices are C+5+6, C+4+5, A+4+6 and Q+N, all of which take 35+ mins and require an additional transfer.

It looks to me like Citymapper heavily weights the distance to the first station; the Nevins St station, which Citymapper doesn't consider, is two blocks away from the point of origin, and from there you can take 4+5 instead of the C+4+5. If you move the origin slightly closer to that station, it then figures correctly.

At any rate, with Google you can tell it to favour fewer transfers, Citymapper has no such option as far as I can see.

[1] http://bit.ly/RC5tO5

[2] http://bit.ly/1hfqEu3

based on experience, i'm pretty sure Google maps will take train times into account. but you have to give it the endpoints of your journey and it doesn't actually show the times.

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