Posted by thimabi 4 days ago
https://github.com/pkulak/tidbyt
My local transit agency (Trimet) is _really_ good with their api. It's public, and a single HTTP GET to get the ETA on every bus that serves a given stop, so it wasn't event that much work.
Unfortunately, it was wildly inaccurate. Every time I queried it, it said the bus had already left (I'd been standing there 10 minutes) or it didn't take into account active detours, or something. The only thing it was good for was determining the headways between buses (15, 20, 30 minutes?) and then you could at least calculate your longest wait at that stop.
The next iteration involved installing the bespoke and quite buggy app provided by the transit authority themselves. Now this theoretically depended on the same GPS trackers in the coaches as the SMS system had. But I had major troubles with the app, and I didn't like it, and it barely did anything else, and so I uninstalled it. And I did without it for a while longer.
Now the app is improved, and it's got QR pass technology included, so I reinstalled it, and I use it more. But, for tracking the buses, I prefer Google Maps.
Our transit authority graciously shares 100% real-time tracking info with Google, and you can track any bus in Maps, including crowdsourced info, such as "How crowded? Is security aboard?"
It works really well, and really accurate; displays every delay and updates by-the-minute as buses or trains pass each stop. Sometimes I pass the time just sitting there and watching my bus make its way down the street.
https://developer.rebble.io/developer.pebble.com/community/a...
""" Caltrain is a Pebble app that displays upcoming trains at a station, and where those trains will stop along the remainder of each of their routes.
Finally, it uses PebbleKit JS to retrieve your location on launch. If it gets a response before you manually choose a station, it will automatically show the station closest to you. """
...you could literally map that "applet" to long-press on a button, and get the info in like 5 seconds.
For extra "dick tracy" spice, call an uber from your wristwatch with 3-4 clicks (long-press, ok, next, ok => "your uber will arrive in __ minutes"). Actually, reviewing the app docs, it looks like it was only two long-presses to request $LAST_USED_CAR to $CURRENT_LOCATION.
https://www.uber.com/blog/pebble-smartwatch/
https://pebble-help-legacy.rebble.io/help.getpebble.com/cust...
Buttons, people! Buttons!
Totally understand how some loved the ability to compose/respond to messages, but that never made sense to me.
Garmin, Amazfit, and BangleJS comes close, but #buttons, #battery, and #b&w (well, always on, transflective, sunlight readable)
(In a highly networked place like London, seeing all options is helpful)
Feedback appreciated!
A 4.37inch E-Paper in 3 colors is $24, problem is need you to program yourself (they have code sample in python, for raspberry pi), and you need a raspberry pi, case, cables, etc.
Also, these cheap epaper displays are, of course, of lower quality (slower, lower resolution) than an kindle display.
Instead of a specific schedule, there is a bus/train every "n" minutes.