Hack for LA

If you just get GPS from people using the app, you can track buses once enough people are using it. You don’t even need that though, because LA Metro already provides the data including real-time predicted arrivals through a pretty nice API: http://developer.metro.net/introduction/realtime-api-overview/realtime-api-examples/

However… there is already a very nice web and mobile web app for doing this: NextBus: https://www.nextbus.com/#!/lametro/2/2_379_0/9269

You’ll find lots of information about this kind of stuff from the MTA’s developer site: http://developer.metro.net/

Currently the market isn’t there; Androids (that most bus riders) don’t support BLE as of yet. Metro’s system actual has real-time data, it’s them handing it over. Ticket-less is messy. You have to choose apps, a protocol for both the device and the receiver, security, and payment. The tap system is imperfect, but it’s practical until the market settles on some standards. Long-term this is awesome. Short-term your making something for nothing (Metro is just getting turnstiles figured out).

Real-time bus data would be awesome and the most logical with the given time frame. Using both metro’s timetable schedule and matching that to light mobile gps tracking, maybe with some geofencing at stops, you could create an close to accurate approximation to your stop and your destination, eventually combining that with multi-transfer connections to mitigate wait-times. This would be probably the strongest part of the idea to go with.

It would first require the entire metro bus system to install these devices. Unless I am out of the loop on something I don’t see this happening anytime soon.

Very interesting. In fact we are currently working on a touchless payment for taxi systems where the user will have the taxi meter in their phone as opposed to in the taxi. With iBeacon installed in the cab, it’s all touchless from the point you sit in the cab and come out.