Transportation Informatics

I had to do it, after all the work I put into helping them understand the value of an open ecosystem, and now they are strong-arming developers.

"NY MTA The Latest Public Transportation Group To Declare It Owns Facts"
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090814/0354395880.shtml

Cityleft has worked together with Travelsharing.netsons.org to develop an open source website for car pooling.

Carpooling (also known as car-sharing, ride-sharing, lift-sharing and covoiturage), is the shared use of a car by the driver and one or more passengers, usually for commuting (Wikipedia).

However Travelsharing.netsons.org extended this approach to other forms of mobility such as biking, hiking, and so on.

The website is still at its beta version. Users should join to the community in order to translate contents in local languages.

To take part to this Travelsharing.netsons.org project visit:
www.Travelsharing.netsons.org

Cityleft

Transit Television Network, a subsidiary of Torstar (owner of Canada's biggest daily newspaper), has filed for bakruptcy.

In Milwaukee and other cities where it set up on buses, TTV seems universally loathed for reasons mentioned by this LA blogger: http://metroriderla.com/2006/12/03/transit-tv-how-we-hate-thee/

Worst of all, TTV has been an infection in public space. As a local rider puts it, TTV content screams one message over and over: "You are a Bus Rider; You are a Loser. This xxxxxx will save you from your misery. $19.95 and operators are standing by." Or a free PC by giving up your phone number and checking account number. Or the scams that came to us with the SAME actor, different names for the scams, but just call 800 xxx xxxx and your life will be turned around -- $500,000 from your home in one month. No one in their right minds would call such a number but that shouting sent a clear coherent message: You Are A Loser. And that message has pervaded bus service for the last decade.

My question: is there any way the existing hardware might be repurposed by creative groups to have a more publicly edifying message?

Well, its official. The NYC Transit has abandoned its effort to do real-time bus tracking for the second time.

Can we come up with a DIY solution that tries to address this?

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/93085/mta-pulls-the-plug-on-bus-t...

Does anyone know of transit agencies or private transit operators that are providing open API access to either a) schedule or b) real-time location for buses, trains, ferries or any other kind of vehicles?

Will collate and post summary.
Thanks