MassDOT Developers Conference - Real-Time Presentation

DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE

GETTING TO REAL-TIME

Follow the Developers Conference on at hashtag

#massdotdevAnd at the conference website: www.massdotdevelopersconference09.com



MBTA REAL-TIME XML TRIAL

AVAILABLE NOW AT: http://www.mass.gov/eot/developers/realtime/



MBTA REAL TIME XML TRIAL

REAL TIME BUS FEED AVAILABLE FOR ROUTES: 39, 111, 114, 116, 117



ABOUT THE ROUTE: 39



ABOUT THE ROUTE: 111



ABOUT THE ROUTE: 114, 116, 117



MBTA’S BUSIEST BUS ROUTESAverage Weeday Ridership - 2008

14

40

5

12

,32

5

11

,14

2

11

,08

8

10

,60

7

8,6

92

8,6

65

7,7

33

7,0

47

6,9

51

6,5

51 4,3

88

4,0

58 1,4

99

39 1 23 66 28 111 57 32 22 15 77 116 117 114



MBTA’S BUSIEST BUS ROUTESAverage Weeday Ridership - 2008

14

40

5

12

,32

5

11

,14

2

11

,08

8

10

,60

7

8,6

92

8,6

65

7,7

33

7,0

47

6,9

51

6,5

51 4,3

88

4,0

58 1,4

99

39 1 23 66 28 111 57 32 22 15 77 116 117 114

FEED PROVIDED BY NEXTBUS

•The trial feed is being provided by NextBus

Inc. of San Francisco, California.

•Vendor with international experience.•Selected to implement trial program only.



RELATIONSHIP PRINCIPLES UPDATE

•Developers License Agreement and MassDOT/Developer Relationship Principles updated to cover use of vendor resources.

•Please respect the resources of MassDOT’s partners and vendors who make data

available to the developer community.



WHY IS THIS ONLY A TRIAL?•

Contracts entered into by the MBTA years ago were not designed to allow the MBTA to provide this data to the public.

•

More than a year of excellent work by MBTA Operations Technology team to build a limited, trial program.

•

The method used to deliver feed is not scalable for the entire system.

•

MBTA must engage in an open, competitive bidding process to make certain the agency is getting the best deal and to comply with federal and state procurement rules.



TRIAL DETAILS•

One-year duration.

•

Not necessarily what will be used in a future system.•

Be prepared for change.

•

Be prepared for downtime for maintenance and testing. •

MassDOT Developers will make best efforts to alert stakeholders of scheduled downtime.



TRIAL GOALS•The primary goal of the real-time XML trial feed is to collect feedback from the developer community on the usefulness of the real-time arrival information demonstrated in the program.•This feedback will help the MBTA’s

technical team refine the

design of a planned future system to ensure it meets expectations. A good design up front will reduce the number of costly changes that could be needed later on.•Let’s build something that provides value to our users.



TRIAL FEEDBACK•Please leave feedback on the MassDOT Developers Google Group:

http://groups.google.com/group/massdotdev elopers.

•Feedback on any and all aspects of the program is welcome. Please include as much detail as you can.



http://groups.google.com/group/massdotdevelopers

http://groups.google.com/group/massdotdevelopers

LONG TERM GOAL: REAL TIME•MassDOT’s

long-term goal is to release

and support a system-wide data feed.•These applications have the potential to

change the way people use transit.



REAL TIME: CURRENT MODEL

1 2 3



REAL TIME: IMPACT OF OPEN DATA

3: Open Real Time Data and see what happens…



EXAMPLE: PORTLAND, OR

EXAMPLE: PORTLAND, OR

EXAMPLE: CHICAGO, IL










EXAMPLE: CHICAGO, ILCommunity

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EXAMPLE: CHICAGO, ILCommunity

Advertisement

Real-TimeBus Arrival

REAL TIME: GETTING THERE•Demonstrate to leaders in government, stakeholders, users, and the general public the value of releasing real-time data first.•This means working together to build great applications and implement other creative ideas!



NEXT STEPS FOR MASSDOTDEV•Improve MBTA T-Alerts RSS Feed•Encourage use of Real-Time XML Trial Feed•Encourage diverse applications that serve a wide range of users.•Investigate opening up real-time information beyond Trial Feed.

