CaBi Tracker latest to use open data to help the public

Bicycling

CaBi Tracker latest to use open data to help the public

by David Alpert • May 10, 2011 2:04 pm

A great new map tool, CaBi Tracker, shows which Capital Bikeshare stations are full or empty in a very easy to visualize way:

You can also click on a station to see numbers and get a graph showing how empty or full the station has been over time.

This shows the power of open data: from the start, CaBi has offered an XML feed of their current usage, and people have responded by creating all kinds of interesting tools.

Other Web tools include Oliver O'Brien's, which shows current availability and will animate the last 24 hours to show how stations have gotten full and empty over time.

Depletion reports from Codeline Telemetry show which stations were empty or full yesterday or today, and for how long, with interesting graphs and a map.

Of course, there's the official CaBi map, which also shows dock status when you click on a station. It's important for CaBi to have this map for those who don't know about the others, but these tools also illustrate how when an organization releases information in open formats, many people find creative ways to visualize and analyze it that go beyond the resources of the operator itself.

For iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, there's Spotcycle, which includes real-time information and bike paths, though at least on my phone it also has the annoying habit of always zooming in on Hains Point every time I load it up even though there are (sadly) no stations there.

iPhone users can also use Bixou, which iPhone-using contributors tell me is better at refreshing data and more stable.

What other Web, mobile, or other tools are out there? I'll update this post to include them.

20 comments

Tags: bike sharing, Capital Bikeshare, data openness, technology

Use your phone to find CaBi (Sep 27, 2010)
Is your CaBi station getting full or empty? (Mar 23, 2011)
Readers finding success bridging Metro gap with CaBi (Oct 10, 2010)
Fairfax County reluctant to release open transit data (Jun 17, 2010)
WMATA will open up real-time data to developers (Jun 8, 2010)

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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I think I still like Spotcycle's default map the best (with the differently shaded red circles). It quickly and cleanly gives an idea where there are bikes and where there are spots. It also scales the circles depending on the size of the station, which is nice.

But your right David, for some reason it tends to center on Hains Point. I live not far from there so I thought it was just centering on my zip code or something.

by Steven Yates on May 10, 2011 2:27 pm • link • report

I know GGW has a clear Google slant, but I like O'Brien's site better. It's good to see more people creating maps they like.

BTW: Could we use the xml data to produce the stats of the secret White House station?

by Jasper on May 10, 2011 2:28 pm • link • report

Spotcycle does center on Hains Point and it drives me absolutely nuts.

It occurred to me the other day that CaBi could incentivize bike distribution by providing users with time credits for biking to an empty station. Let's say, you get a credit of a couple minutes every time you park a bike in an empty station. Those minutes could be used on any trip, not just your current trip. That should help distro the bikes, no?

by OX4 on May 10, 2011 2:41 pm • link • report

Ah. Glad I'm not the only one who has the Hains Point problem. Drives me nuts.

Also, a while back, I suggested a slightly different kind of map marker for those dynamic/interactive bus kiosks that DDOT were proposing, which is useful for maps that show more than just bikeshare locations.

by andrew on May 10, 2011 3:06 pm • link • report

I still think iFindBikes has the best map. You toggle if you are searching for a bike or a dock, and the circles adjust accordingly. Plus you can bookmark favorite stations.

The others may do this too, it has been a while since I've used them.

by 20001dc on May 10, 2011 3:21 pm • link • report

The secret wh station was dumped in a data load a few weeks ago.

Not surpringly, it got more use than all the EOTR stations combined

by Charlie on May 10, 2011 3:23 pm • link • report

Aaaahhhh! I thought this was going to be the article in which you announced the release of the expanded CaBi data! When are we getting that? (Weren't we promised that or am I just slowly losing it?)

by David F-H on May 10, 2011 3:25 pm • link • report

Two more Android options:

Cycle Hire Widget (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.littlefluffytoys.cyclehire&feature=search_result)

CityBikes (https://market.android.com/details?id=net.homelinux.penecoptero.android.citybikes.app&feature=search_result)

Haven't used them all enough to have a favorite yet, but I, too, am tired of Spotcycle centering on Hains Point.

by c5karl on May 10, 2011 3:34 pm • link • report

I think the map centers on Hains Point because its the center of the District and Arlington usage area. The general idea, I believe, is to not assume that users are in Northwest D.C. or Crystal City. However, why the map can't use GPS or other location data to identify where you actually are (just like Google Maps currently does) is beyond me.

by Adam L on May 10, 2011 3:53 pm • link • report

Also, SpotCycle could at least zoom out more. It centers on Hains Point but zoomed in so far you can't see more than a couple stations in Southwest. It could be zoomed out to start, if they can't detect your location which would be better.

Sometimes I've used SpotCycle, moved the map to where I was, then gone to another app and back to SpotCycle and it would briefly show my previous location, then rezoom and recenter over to Hains Point.

by David Alpert on May 10, 2011 4:03 pm • link • report

FYI, in Spotcycle there is a function that will take you to your location (at least on Android). Tap the menu button, then a target looking button will appear on the top bar. Tap that and it will scroll to your location. Why this isn't the default and why it's so weird to get to is beyond me.

by Steven Yates on May 10, 2011 4:09 pm • link • report

@c5karl

CycleHire works great. I much prefer the Green/Yellow/Orange/Red dots they use on the map; it's far more intuitive. When a bike station is green, it has good balance of bikes and open slots, yellow means not enough slots, orange means not bikes, and red is closed. Great system.

by Adam L on May 10, 2011 4:09 pm • link • report

My usual experience with SpotCycle is that it centers wherever I had it centered last time I opened it, but sometimes it does revert to Hains Point.

On the other hand, my home CaBi station is the closest one in the system to Hains Point, so that's less of a problem for me than it would be for pretty much anyone else.

by cminus on May 10, 2011 4:21 pm • link • report

I'm guessing it centers on Hains Point before it finds your location because finding your location takes a while. Might as well load the map as it searches.

by OX4 on May 10, 2011 4:46 pm • link • report

Mine centers on Hains Point, too. I just hit the menu button on my Droid and in the screen in the upper right, the "locator" (looks like a rifle's crosshairs) comes into view, so I touch that and voila - it shows MY location.

by Daniel on May 10, 2011 5:06 pm • link • report

I downloaded SpotCycle for my blackberry and it had trouble locating my nearest stations. I emailed the company and they said they had trouble with the GPS in blackberry devices but had no solution.

Without this feature, the app is pretty much useless to someone who doesn't know the city streets very well and can pick out the nearest station by just looking at a list.

by Kyle on May 10, 2011 6:39 pm • link • report

@Jasper,

The white house station is still suppressed from the XML feed but its trips were included in the usage totals used for last month's bikes flow downhill post. Otherwise it remains an undisclosed location (didn't those go out with the last administration?). Interestingly enough the contractual requirement for stations to be accessible to the general public appears to apply only to those on private rather than public property (see contract p. 92 (a) and (b)).

by cabi addict on May 10, 2011 7:50 pm • link • report

@ cabi addict: If the White House station is the only "undisclosed location" it's data can be derived from the rest because it will be the "missing" data. As long as they publish all data, then the "extra" rides that are in the total, but are unaccounted for in the station data, must be the White House station data...

by Jasper on May 11, 2011 10:46 am • link • report

@ 20001dc,
I agree with you. iFindBikes is a great app. I find it faster and easier to use than the other ones that I tested.

by Mike on May 11, 2011 4:39 pm • link • report

I use Bixou and really love it, Very Easy and always points me to the nearsest station with easy to decipher bike/dock real time status

by Eye Phone on May 12, 2011 12:16 pm • link • report