Train Exits

[joe-dev-public]

Project Name

Train Exits

Describe the problem you'd like to solve

Let users quickly see what doors they should leave a train from to get to the next part of their journey as quickly as possible/with the shortest route.

Who are the stakeholders?

Various users of public transport, e.g. those with mobility impairments, those in a rush, those who are unfamiliar and want to avoid getting lost.

Other considerations

• Probably too complex and broad in scope for a final project.
• It needs to work offline, but can sync/update when it has Internet access.

What is currently being done to solve this problem?

Some mobile apps have existed for Tube exits in the past. IIRC: there have been free and paid apps; the information in some got out of date; some seemed to be abandoned by their developers. This only covers the Tube and not other rail services in London or the UK (or the world!! >:).

• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=b4a.firstoffthetube / https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=b4a.firstoffthetube_lite
• I think Citymapper might have this feature in some places, I've never tried it. (Also that's probably a big, clunky app just for train exits.)
  • This https://citymapper.com/news/726/where-to-get-on-the-train suggests they offer rough train position (front/middle/back) and have a way for users to submit feedback.

What technology might be interesting to explore?

• Something that can turn a simple web app into a mobile app without too much hassle (React Native?).
• Crowdsourcing the data, and allowing users to up/downvote it (maybe even leave comments? Though that would be a complete nightmare to moderate!). The "best" routes rise to the top. (How to stop vote-spamming? :)
• Could provide an API for other apps to use. (Maybe a free tier, but paid for any paid app or one making lots of requests.) Would only be viable if our app was considered a reliable SST for train exit info!

[mariaalouisaa]

This. I would totally use this!