blog.tapbus.com

Hey fellow tapbusers, I thought you all might be interested in a few updates I currently am finalizing for an upcoming release on tapbus.com. This new release will include a few redesign changes to the user interface as well as a new feature called “My Stops” that will allow anyone to save their frequent stops onto a seperate page allowing them to bypass the search by route or cross street options.

We anticipate this release will be available soon but there has been no specific date set.  We will keep you posted and when we plan to release it.

Before creating TapBus, I found this wonder site called MyBus.org that was created by students at UW using real-time Metro transit data collected from each bus on its given route. At the time, I was overjoyed to find such a site that could tell me if the bus was running late before leaving home or work. Even better, I soon found out I could access the site from my mobile phone’s web browser and get the information while standing right at the bus stop.

While everything seemed great, after daily use it become obvious that the experience became stressful and left much to be desired. The biggest problem I found was the UI on the site was grossly outdated,, regardless of what device or browser you used. This compiled exponentially when frantically running to the bus stop and tapping the keys on my phone to rapidly refresh the page to see if I could catch it or would have to sit and wait for the next one.

After using the service for a couple years, I found out that the transit company provided the same data that supplied the MyBus.org website for use in other applications. At the the time, Web 2.0 was in full motion and Mashup sites were the latest buzz words. The catalyst that finally brought my realizations into clear perspective was purchasing the iPhone. While its web browsing capabilities made it much easier to use the MyBus site, It was its simply user interface that made it standout and compel me to improve my bus experience.

From this, driven by frustrations TapBus.com was created.

I would like to welcome you to the release of TapBus.com (Beta), a site providing real-time bus stop schedules for Seattle METRO transit system. Using only a web browser, the service has been optimized for display on both desktop PC and mobile phones such as the iPhone or AT&T Tilt.

TapBus.com receives its data directly from Metro through web services technology and presented in simply user interface utilizing the latest Web 2.0 technologies such as AJAX. We will continue to enhance the service including future features to be announced at a later date.