I think something like Bus Monster might be possible in Madison some time soon.
Although some people objected to GPS locators on buses (I think Scott Rose might have been one of them, though my memory might be inaccurate on that point), Metro went ahead and installed them anyway. If you've been on one of those buses on which a disembodied voice announces each stop, you're seeing GPS in action. I think I remember reading that Metro is planning to make real-time bus arrival information available to riders -- by phone (punch in the ID number for a bus stop, and listen for the time when the next bus will arrive) and, I hope, by web. If Metro makes this information available, it won't be hard to put it out in map form. Bus Monster is a Google Maps hack, put together by volunteers. A bunch of Madison programmers with time on their hands could probably do something very similar, whenever Metro makes the data available. ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 9:29 AM Subject: Re: [Bikies] Bus Monster > *************************************** > Richard Frueh > WHEDA Network Systems Administrator > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (608) 267-1080 (o) (608) 267-2825 (f) > *************************************** > > > > Scott Rose > <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To > Sent by: Bikies List > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > nenet.org cc > > Subject > 06/20/2005 08:59 [Bikies] Bus Monster > PM > > > > > > > > > > >Here's an interesting hack of Google Maps that offers a wonderful > >alternative interface to the Seattle Metro real-time bus information: > >http://www.busmonster.com/. > > >Beleive it or not, you have long been able to pull up a web applet to > >see where Seattle buses are at a given moment, complete with route > >numbers. Not where they are scheduled to be-- where they are. The applet > >updates the positions of the busses in real time, which makes it > >possible to, for example, work at your desk until the last possible > >moment before your bus arrives. It all relies upon a network of sensors > >and busses equipped with simple transmitters. It's pretty cool, but the > >map itself is quite primitive. > > > As I recall, which doesn't mean much these days - the memory definitely > appears to be going - Madison Metro wanted to put GPS locaters on every > bus, and have kiosks in all of the bus shelters so you could look them up. > This was decried as a massive waste of money, given that they were having > ridership problems, were going to raise the fares, and all of that. > > I would like to see such a thing, because it would be useful, at least > downtown. But heck, the fact that we can now plan routes over the web by > stop number is almost spiffy enough, and maybe I ought to be glad where we > are... > > Rich > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
