It's a GRT web app =O

[Jason L]

So alongside the new web site, GRT released its schedule data in GTFS format... and I pretty quickly took advantage of that to make this:

http://grt.frufru.ca/

https://grtapp.ca 

Usage should be straightforward... either put in a stop #, or search for a stop based on a street or the stop's name. From there, the upcoming departures are shown, and you can click on the route to get the trip info (including the route outline being shown on a map). I'm currently working on a nice way of displaying terminal stops, and some other features as I think of them... so be nice to it xD

Any comments/suggestions/issues, feel free to let me know

[GRT 9401]

Great job.

Looks useful.

[Felix]

Here is a quick suggestion, when typing in the stop name for stop search, it might be a good idea to give some leniency. As it stands right now, you have to correctly type in the stop name using the following format, Fischer-Hallman / Erb, to get a result. I can imagine that it might create some minor issues.

Otherwise, it's a pretty good app! Good work!

[Jason L]

Thanks guys

Here is a quick suggestion, when typing in the stop name for stop search, it might be a good idea to give some leniency. As it stands right now, you have to correctly type in the stop name using the following format, Fischer-Hallman / Erb, to get a result. I can imagine that it might create some minor issues.

Otherwise, it's a pretty good app! Good work!

Hmm... seems simple enough. Made a few changes. Try it again and see if that works better for you (You don't even need to type the entire name for either street )

Other methods of looking for stops will be coming soon as well

[Leave By Rear Door!]

Nice! (And you did this on your own?)

[Jason L]

Nice! (And you did this on your own?)

Yep

[vivablue5215]

I like it, good job!

[Jason L]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys

I've recently discovered some glitchiness with the way it finds the current service (especially due to the Sunday schedule today).... the way the data is stored makes it somewhat complicated to consistently grab a certain # of next arrivals. Hopefully my latest change fixed it... Otherwise blame me deciding to code a confusing part at 3:30 am >.<

I'll continue my testing... you guys are welcome to help me out and please let me know if you spot any issues.

Meanwhile, in addition to the current stop search, a method of finding the closest stops to your current location (which should work in most browsers and mobile devices that support location services), as well as finding stops closest to the currently opened stop (that link is below the map for the stop) has been added

[Jason L]

New feature: Location picker http://grt.frufru.ca/pick_location.asp

[Jason L]

A few shortcuts to add....

To get the next departures for a stop given the stop number, simply go to grt.frufru.ca/[stopnumber] , like so: http://grt.frufru.ca/1128

To quickly find stops near you on a supported desktop/mobile browser, go to http://grt.frufru.ca/nearby

Also, from places that list stops, like on the nearby stops, or on a stop search, the next routes will be shown in the last column: http://grt.frufru.ca/nearbystops.asp?lat=4...2883&num=10 (This is from clicking on "Nearby Stops" from the first link)

It is displayed using AJAX (a method of loading more data from the server when the page itself is already loaded) because this query takes a little bit more time (which adds up when you're querying many stops), and waiting for a result from all of them before allowing the page to load can add significantly to the page loading time (and many people won't even need that info, or may only be interested in next routes for the few closest stops)

[Jason L]

Now with a quick display of the next 3 trips (with # minutes/hours countdown), and a Terminals drop down for stop searching

[mpd618]

Major props for this app - it's very nice!

[Jason L]

Now with tweets from @GRTRiderAlerts embedded right into the main page

[Jason L]

You can now pick a different date/time to view a stop's next departures for (within the limits of the latest GTFS feed update). Open your stop, then click "Pick date/time" just below the current time display at the top of the page

[mpd618]

You can now pick a different date/time to view a stop's next departures for (within the limits of the latest GTFS feed update). Open your stop, then click "Pick date/time" just below the current time display at the top of the page

Have you contacted GRT regarding your site? I think they've been looking to feature apps people have developed using their data, and yours is quite nice.

[Jason L]

Have you contacted GRT regarding your site? I think they've been looking to feature apps people have developed using their data, and yours is quite nice.

I'll probably do that eventually

[vivablue5215]

Look what I found.

[Jason L]

Look what I found.

Seen that We've both been tweeted by TriTAG xD http://twitter.com/#!/TriTAG/status/81504209056432128

I figured an iPhone app would be coming from someone else sooner or later. When I get more time I might try my hand at one either way just to see how it goes.

And btw, my app is now updated to the summer schedule

[vivablue5215]

You're on reddit now Jason L!

[Jason L]

You're on reddit now Jason L!

funny... a friend just posted that on my fb wall =P

Anyway, I have some more neat stuff planned for it but I probably won't end up implementing them until sometime in September due to final exams & travel plans

[Jason L]

So here's a bit of a minor thing I wanted to do...

When searching or looking for a nearby stop, I often found that the info given was not enough to tell the direction of the stop (i.e. same or similar routes in both directions) so I wanted some sort of indicator. And the most obvious seems to be the route destination.

I'm playing with ways to display that now and was interested in some feedback:

http://grt.frufru.ca/nearbystops.asp?lat=4...st=1&num=10 (Example search of stops near UW Davis Centre)

this is a "hidden" thing at the moment. You have to manually add "&showdest=1" to the URL to see it. If the changes go through, this display will be a secondary option. You think that's a good approach or does it look like crap?

[mpd618]

I'm playing with ways to display that now and was interested in some feedback:

http://grt.frufru.ca/nearbystops.asp?lat=4...st=1&num=10 (Example search of stops near UW Davis Centre)

I would use it. Something like this helps to figure out which of those stops goes in the direction you want. The text might be a bit difficult to read for some people, though.

Also - I doubt there's many of these, but your site still shows stops that no longer have any routes serving them (i.e. were cut from Route 7).

[Jason L]

I would use it. Something like this helps to figure out which of those stops goes in the direction you want. The text might be a bit difficult to read for some people, though.

Also - I doubt there's many of these, but your site still shows stops that no longer have any routes serving them (i.e. were cut from Route 7).

Perhaps I'm trying to cram too much into one row... what if I did something like this?

http://grt.frufru.ca/nearbystops.asp?lat=4...st=1&num=10

(and maybe given the extra space I should try throwing in how much time is remaining before the arrival...)

As for the route 7 stops, well, they're still in the data given to me, and I think there's a line in the terms that says I'm not allowed to modify the data... so I've added notes on the pages for those stops, which might be the most I can do....

[mpd618]

Perhaps I'm trying to cram too much into one row... what if I did something like this?

http://grt.frufru.ca/nearbystops.asp?lat=4...st=1&num=10

(and maybe given the extra space I should try throwing in how much time is remaining before the arrival...)

Looks good, I think! Time remaining right on that screen would be nice - though I don't know whether there's the space for it. I personally don't have much use for the distance in metres, but it probably should still stay in some form.

As for the route 7 stops, well, they're still in the data given to me, and I think there's a line in the terms that says I'm not allowed to modify the data... so I've added notes on the pages for those stops, which might be the most I can do....

Thanks! Yeah - it's something that GRT should fix itself. In general, I guess there are stops that don't have any buses on particular days of the week or perhaps times of day, so perhaps it shouldn't be strange to have stops listed without buses. If you weren't doing dynamic lookup of next routes, those ones could probably just not be shown.

One more thing that would be useful - maybe add something to the stop page to make it easier to find for those less familiar with the area or stop. Making that area map zoomable, adding a current location marker (if known), or something similar.

[Jason L]

Looks good, I think! Time remaining right on that screen would be nice - though I don't know whether there's the space for it. I personally don't have much use for the distance in metres, but it probably should still stay in some form.

How's this?

http://grt.frufru.ca/nearbystops.asp?lat=4...st=1&num=10 (for nearby search)

http://grt.frufru.ca/stop.asp?search=1&amp...&showdest=1 (for text search)

(I might actually decide to just make this the new view instead of it just being a secondary option)

Thanks! Yeah - it's something that GRT should fix itself. In general, I guess there are stops that don't have any buses on particular days of the week or perhaps times of day, so perhaps it shouldn't be strange to have stops listed without buses. If you weren't doing dynamic lookup of next routes, those ones could probably just not be shown.

One more thing that would be useful - maybe add something to the stop page to make it easier to find for those less familiar with the area or stop. Making that area map zoomable, adding a current location marker (if known), or something similar.

Hmm... well the current nearby stops map can kind of serve that purpose... I might look to improve on that later on though...