Since TriMet made its schedule available to the public in 2007, several programmers have developed helpful applications for riders with mobile phones. The applications make TriMet’s schedule, routes and stops available at the touch of a button and some in real time, providing updates as they happen.
There are currently 28 applications available for download and some that can be used on any Web browser. Six of the applications are supported only by iPhone and iPod Touch, while some will simply work with any cell phone using SMS messaging (text messaging).
TriMet does not track the use of the applications, when they’re downloaded or their popularity. However, word gets around, and TriMet is listening
“We’ve heard a lot of great things about PDX Bus … it has some really neat features for those with an iPhone. It displays arrival times, allows a user to bookmark frequently used stops, displays recently accessed stops and gives details for arrivals that are en route,” said Carolyn Young, TriMet executive director of communications and technology.
Young continued to explain the many details of the available applications.
“It also works with Google Maps, showing locations of stops and, when available, the last known position of the bus or train,” Young said. “It also has a flash feature that turns the iPhone into a beacon that a rider can use to flag down a bus at night.”
The applications are based on information and maps published in Google Transit Feed Specifications (GTFS) and on TriMet’s Web-based TransitTracker and trip planning systems.
“There are several local developers. Others are from all over the world,” Young said. “One developer, Andrew Wallace, a local designer of PDX Bus, had developing an application on his list of things he wanted to do before he died.”
Some of the developers charge a fee to download their application, while others do it for the experience. With the rapid emergence of new technology, third-party developers prove a necessity.
“There are developers who are following these trends and creating tools for all kinds of equipment and formats,” Young said.
The applications provide riders with a wide range of easy-to-access and up-to-date information about the bus, light rail and streetcar.
“There are so many useful, smart tools being developed,” Young said. “We don’t have the resources to create these tools ourselves, and there are certainly ideas we haven’t seen before or even thought about.”
TriMet does not own the applications, nor does it endorse them. TriMet has simply made its information available in order to make riding more accessible to the public.
“We do have our own apps, like TransitTracker, that we have available directly to riders on our Web site, but the 28 apps in the Apps Center are not owned by us or endorsed by us,” Young said. “We are simply showing people what’s available out there. It’s up to them to research and download what they want.”
Out of 25 students surveyed on PSU’s campus, 68 percent said they were regular riders of TriMet’s public transportation and 20 percent rode occasionally.
Other than knowing schedules by heart, which 48 percent of the surveyed use as their main transit tracking means, 40 percent look online to find arrival times and places.
A few of the students commented on the complexity of TriMet’s online TransitTracker, saying it is difficult and inconvenient to use. However, all but one of the students surveyed claimed they would use a mobile transit tracker if their cell phones supported the software. None of the surveyed had ever heard of the mobile applications.
TriMet reasons that “through blogs, Twitter and other forums, users of these applications will spread the word that they are available, share which ones they like best and talk about what else they might want or need,” Young said.
Sixty percent of the students do not currently own a cell phone that supports downloadable applications.
“Some apps were designed specifically using TriMet data and therefore are useful only to TriMet riders. Others are more universal … like iNap. There are also some apps that have city-specific downloads available,” Young said.
There are currently 34 different transit agencies and operators that have made their schedules public using GTFS, allowing for third-party developers.