[Talk-transit] GTFS, tools and pt tags generally

[Stephen Sprunk]

On 2016-06-21 15:12, Paul Johnson wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 2:02 PM, Stephen Sprunk <stephen at sprunk.org>
> wrote:
>> I found a couple transit-specific apps, but they refuse to work until
>> I'm within some minimum distance of a stop.  ...
> 
> RideSystems (and yes, I'm calling them out on this, since I reported
> the problem a year ago via Google Play) won't even get past the
> "select your transit system" thing.

I was going to say "at least they tried", but after a year, I agree.

> Plus it's basically one of those
> lame "browser in an app" deals, and it _still_ doesn't work all that
> great in Chrome.

I don't get why so many folks waste money on that, other than to tell 
clueless execs that "we have an app" when all they really have is the 
same old website with a app-like shortcut.

Building a custom app probably isn't cheap, but there _must_ be decent 
off-the-shelf apps out there that can work from a standard GTFS feed.  
Or they could just make their regular web site work well on mobile 
devices too; few riders would care it's not an "app".

> ... better than their old trip planner by a lot:  Tear out page 4 of
> the timetable, fill out the form printed on it, _then mail it to the
> transit system's office and wait for them to mail you the answer_.  No
> joke.

*boggle*

Here, they publish a 24x7 customer service phone number that works for 
both trip planning and any other questions/complaints from riders.  
Their web/app trip planner isn't bad, but it doesn't seem to be any 
better than Google Maps, which indicates it's using the exact same data 
that's in the GTFS feed (maybe the feed itself).

>> [Cross-streets is] how nearly all bus stops here are named, aside
>> from those part of complex bus/rail stations that tend to have
>> multiple bays/platforms.  I don't see the problem with that.
>> 
>> It's when you get to those complex stations that you run into
>> questions of naming the individual pieces vs the station as a whole,
>> but it still doesn't seem that difficult until you get to rare cases,
>> e.g. multiple stations that have grown together into one confusing,
>> amorphous blob.
> 
> The transit renderer doesn't seem to like to consider the same stop
> running different directions through the same intersection unless you
> bang the name up.  A stop might be 41st and Yale in one direction, and
> Yale and 41st going the other way through the intersection, for
> example.

I'm not sure what you're referring to; the only bus stops I see in all 
of Tulsa are the ones at or near Denver Avenue Station, and only one of 
DAS's bays seems to be labeled.

Here, there'd be four distinct stops named something like "41st NB @ 
Yale", "41st SB @ Yale", "Yale EB @ 41st" and "Yale WB @ 41st".  The 
only rendering challenge I see is if they're so close at low zoom that 
the names would overlap, but since they're all pretty much the same name 
anyway, it doesn't matter in practice.


S


-- 
Stephen Sprunk      "Those people who think they know everything
CCIE #3723         are a great annoyance to those of us who do."
K5SSS                                             --Isaac Asimov