Where's the Streetcar? Right there. And there. And there.
TTC streetcars are capable of being equipped with GPS tracking devices, and the technology exists to pinpoint their precise location... as you read this. But up until now, this information has not been harnessed and relayed by the TTC to the public.
But it appears that this is all going to change very soon.
This morning, blogTO reader Greg Washington, along with other fellow transit riders using the 510 Spadina streetcar, got an exciting sneak peek at what appears to be a dual screen electronic board that displays next departure information and real-time tracking of all vehicles on the route. How cool is that!?
When I myself went to check it out during lunch hour today, the screens were off, which suggests to me that the system is not quite ready to go live.
What has really got me excited are the possibilities for the future. Imagine a web and mobile phone application that uses actual vehicle position and traffic flow data to deliver us real-time scheduling information?
Stuff happens on the roads that take public transit off of their fixed schedule - all the time. This pretty much makes posted schedules and mobile phone apps that use fixed schedule data (no matter how wonderfully designed and implemented they are) to be inherently difficult to rely on in the real world. GPS could change all of that.
I just chatted briefly with the the folks at the TTC, who unfortunately aren't able to say much about this exciting development quite yet. A media advisory will be issued tomorrow, and the big news release is planned for next Monday. We'll have to wait patiently for official word.
In the mean time, let's consider the questions...
Which routes will be getting the monitoring screens? Which need them most? Will the TTC be delivering real-time web and mobile phone-based route planning? When?
Comments (47)
That is awesome! Now they just need to implement this on other routes where you can't always see the next car coming.
Yes, that would be awesome. The Red Rocket app is pretty great, and if it used GPS tracking, it'd be perfect. No need to start from scratch!!!
Just think, you can see them all bunched together on the screen (one rammed full, the rest empty, naturally), instead of just waiting and watching them go by in the other direction like usual.
this would seriously cut back on the people randomly wandering into the middle of the road trying to visually locate the streetcar... Deploy! You have my approval!
This *could* be great. I'm hoping that they put little LED "time until next streetcar" displays in regular stops, however, and not just spend all their money on big, glitzy screens in stations. While it's great to have that information in both places, I think it's more important when you're freezing your tchotchkes off outdoors in the middle of the Winter. ;) Plus, I can only assume that the per-unit price would be significantly cheaper for a small LED display, versus big honkin' television screens.
And yes, make the data open, so someone can turn this into a website and/or iphone app! :)
I'm not really sure how this helps out anything besides peoples patience. It doesnt matter if I know when the streetcar is coming if when it gets to me the driver won't let me on because it's too full.
The plan, the last I saw, was for Spadina to be the test project for the next-vehicle arrival system and, yes, the stops will be equipped with next vehicle displays. Finch Station will be the pilot project for the bus network.
How nice would it be to spend a moment checking the Queen car online before leaving work rather than just missing one and waiting out in the cold for the next.
So how soon can I get this info on my wireless devices, so I can time my departures accordingly?
Crossing my fingers on it coming in 2009 and being well done (i.e. a commissioned work by someone really skilled and proven in the Toronto tech community)!
Oh man, all they need to do is update their website with the GPS info for their buses. That way you know exactly when the next bus is coming!
That would definitely make the TTC the better way.
You're missing the point guys, sometimes when people get to a stop and wait 30 minutes only to be passed by a full one it would have just been better to walk (or cab) to their location.
at least this way, people in these situations would know when they get to the stop, oh look the next car is super far away, screw this I'm walking. or cabbing. or whatever.
New York Transit was having troubles with their GPS. They had problems with the arrival times being inaccurate, citing inaccurate data due to the high buildings in the downtown area.
This is awesome! I live north of College St... so it's not a problem to walk to Spadina station, but most of the time, it's more convenient to take the streetcar.
The problem is those times that happen every now and then where I wait and wait... start to wish I had walked... but by that point I figure if I've already waited that long, it's probably just around the corner (it's tough when you're north of Spadina circle and can't see whether the next one is at King or at College).
Same problem happens at the station going south of course.
spadina would probably benefit least from this, with it's dedicated lane & frequent service, i've never waited more then 10 min. same with the subway, unless there is a service interruption, you're never wating more then 10 min. seems like a waste of $ on those routes.
i'm all for this on bus routes and other streetcar routes. i also agree with the person who said we could just have simple LED timers, no need for the big fancy monitors, but i'm sure we will pay for them with the next fare increase.
I'm proud of you all!
I was getting so used to hearing nothing but complaints and backlash on this site even on things that don't effect you directly. I was starting to think it was nothing but negative rants. Complain about transit, politians, media companies, news agencies. No one could do anything right, or perfect.
I was expecting a bunch of complaining as soon as I saw the headline BUT you surprised me. Someone is trying something, that's to be supported.
Wouldn't it be cool if we could access this information over the web...
I could go to ttc's site, check and see if the Queen streetcar is backed up (even though I already know it is).
So many big cities around the world already have these at ALL public transit stops. It is about TIME toronto does something to catch up!!!
Not sure if this would help, those buses skipping pickup at certain stops since they are a)too full, b)our stop has too many people and c)the bus behind it and the bus behind that bus decided they too are too full...which sucks on cold mornings and after 40 minutes of waiting...
Also the ROM broke their outdoor LCD displays...so maybe they should becareful of where they are placing them...stations aren't really that warm...or within operating temps all the time.
What's the "wooo-ing" about?
You'll still have to wait 40 friggin minutes! ONly now, you'll be more frustrated cause you'll be watching the car from a screen... waiting..... and waiting.. ect.
I'd tweak that display a little. It's horribly cluttered. I'd put the pointer "bubbles" beside the road, rather than on top of the road, so you can see what's actually going on. (Direction would be indicated by which side of the road it's on.)
TechnologyDrone on: Did Adam Giambrone grab your head and press your face against the screen? I didn't know anyone was forcing you to look at it.
this technology is useless waste of money(only idiots like the TTC can come up with this idea)...they could be just playing a fake route map tracking, you wouldn't know if it was in real time or not...this is just like the traffic light button asking pedestrian to press before crossing
TechnologyDrone: You're kidding me right? Yet you sit on the internet posting commments on a blog from a monitor that is most definately much smaller in resolution?
These are great, can't wait till they roll them out everywhere!
Perception has a great deal to do with how people feel about a service. Standing there not knowing when the hell the next street car is coming - if its 5 minutes or 15 or 30 is really frustrating.
Knowing the next street car is coming in 30 mins is far less frustrating then standing there wondering /when/ it's going to be coming.
I'm all for it. Put them at as many locations as possible. Just the idea of knowing I have 10 mins to hit an ATM or go upstairs to buy my tokens/tickets is a major plus!
While NYC is cutting their budget and increasing fairs by $25USD, and functioning in the decrepit stations, Toronto is freezing fares for 2009 and implementing a high techie GPS system. Way to go Toronto!
The frustrating part of waiting for a late bus or streetcar, is not knowing when it'll arrive. At least you will know now!
Funny how a small city like St. John's, NL. has real time tracking on it's website and have had it for a number of years. A major transit system in Toronto is only now experimenting?
What give with that?
Not the safest thing at times. =p
They have this in the Ukraine or something and I think it does help, I hate the feeling of waiting and not knowing, just that little note to show me how much longer I have to wait is a bit less wondering.
The TTC is so behind the times with technology. In Hamilton all the stops have phone numbers posted. You call the number, it tells you when the next few buses stop there. In York region, Viva bus stops all have a digital displays showing when the next bus arrives. I really hope this goes somewhere.
As Dan said, this is super-useful when you have a 10 minute walk from your stop to your house or subway. Helps you decide whether to wait or walk it.
Europe - among all the other small cities - has had this for a while now - lovely for us to catch up.
I blame the massive funding cutbacks for the length of time it took for this to arrive. At least the technology will in theory be more 'reliable' (assuming they learn lessons from mistakes made in other places).
@James - how the hell do you think having a phone number is "with technology"? The TTC had this like 2 DECADES ago. :p It was cut back along with all the other cutbacks :(
This'll be way better than that.
Our transit system is incredibly embarrassing for a city of this size - most the world is lightyears ahead of us, the least we could do is install a system like this to at least give the appearance of a competent transit system
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