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. is the Director of Video Production for NYCSR's StreetFilms and producer of bikeTV. He loves the color purple, chocolate chip cookies, and enjoys walking, biking, and taking transit. He has never owned a driver's license.
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