The World’s First “Transit Appliance”
5:18 PM EDT on October 22, 2010
This is just too cool. At Rail-volution, Chris Smith from Portland Transport debuted what he is calling the world’s first “Transit Appliance.” It can deliver real-time transit arrival estimates to a display in your home, coffee shop, library or, well, anywhere frequented by transit users.
Drawing upon a number of open source software components, the open hardware “Chumby” platform, and publicly available transit data from Portland’s TriMet & NextBus, a successfully hacked device can transmit arrival times to transit riders wherever they may be.
Chris says that the appliance can be delivered for less than $200 and works anywhere a WiFi connection is available. For more info contact him directly at chris [at] portlandtransport [dot] com.
Clarence Eckerson Jr. has been running Streetfilms for two decades after serving as a producer of BikeTV. He loves the color purple, chocolate chip cookies, and enjoys walking, biking, and taking transit. He has never had a driver's license. But he does have an award from the U.N. (yes, that U.N.!)
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