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TTC streetcars goes GPS

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Early this morning, Jerrold Litwinenko over at BlogTO broke the lid off of the TTC’s streetcar GPS tracker (in beta still) for mobile devices. He has a detailed post that you can check out, but here’s the simplifed version:

Following this link to the NextBus.com website and you’ll get a list of streetcar routes.

Then pick your direction.

Then pick your stop.

And it gives you an accurate time of when the next streetcar will arrive.

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13 comments

  2. Is there a way for this to work for those of up not yet with iPhones? Because it’s pretty sweet (and about time!)

  3. The future is here. Finally no more looking down the street or around the corner and saying where %*$# is the TTC!

  4. It is a great idea but it is not yet accurate – which is OK for a test! For example, as Steve Munro reports, not all streetcars are equipped with GPS units (so don’t show on the reports). Bottom line / moral: Remember, it’s still in test mode!

  5. The 503 Kingston Rd. seems to be missing from the list of routes to select. If you catch it at the right time you can also see streetcars that are not in service or are returning back to one of the carhouses.

  7. @Dave

    This works on any device with a web browser. Most cell phones have them. No need for a high tech unit. 🙂

  8. I used it today at queen and dufferin. I looked west for a streetcar and saw none, checked this site and saw next car was 22 min away. Walked down to king and caught car going east. Saved lots of guess work

  9. This is just a test system based on existing data its not “Live” or “real time” just yet. This is a sample created for the commission however the data it is using is based on timetables not actual vehicle data. For example I watched an intersection on Queen Street during the AM rush, it was saying the next car was 20 minutes away … 4 cars came and went. And the System seemed to thing there was a grand total of 11 Streetcars (both ways) on the entire route (Neville to Longbranch) at 8am …

    http://www.nextbus.com/corporate/press/index.htm#ttc

    is a link to a press release regarding a contract they have with the TTC, however if you go to the TTC’s website and do a search on “nextbus” no pages are found, and the only info about next vehcile that has been released by the ttc has to do with their PILOT PROJECT on the 510 SPADINA route (with the screens and the maps at Spadina and Union Stations)

  10. Will it tell us how many screaming matches will be on the Dufferin bus? Or how many strollers per street car?

  11. >This is just a test system based on existing data its not “Live” or “real time” just >yet.

    that’s not true–I tried it at queen and gladstone and it accurately predicted the arrival times of 3 cars in both directions. 2 of them going west were _one minute_ apart! That’s not from a schedule.

  12. Adam Giambrone indicates on Twitter:

    “TTC 509 and 510 streetcar tracking info is accurate, others will come down for tweaking”

    And if you look at the map right now, there are more cars on Spadina than there are any where on the system … therefore until the system is fully implemented … don’t use it on any routes other than 509/510 because chances are good that its not accurate.