MassDOT Developers Presentation - December 2009

MASSDOT DEVELOPERS
Chris Dempsey and Joshua Robin
Massachusetts Department of Transportation

Follow MassDOT Developers on at @massdotdev
And at the conference website: www.massdotdevelopersconference09.com

SIX MONTHS AGO: MassDOT and its customers want
mobile + web applications with info about transit and roads.
MassDOT builds its own app: Developers try to build their own:
•Long procurement •Beg MassDOT for data
•Only one application and one •Scrape data yourself
audience served •Jump through hoops to get data in
•Limited agility to improve the app digital formats
long term. •Worry that even when you release a
successful application, MassDOT
would object


NEW MODEL: OPEN DATA
•“Open” MassDOT data by making it available in standard
formats
•RSS, XML, GTFS, etc.
•Easy: All data released with the initial Developer Page launch was
already available in standard formats and required no work to be “public
ready”
•Harness the power of developers to build interesting and
useful applications with our data
•Creates value for both MassDOT AND developers
•Better serve customers across many platforms

OLD MODEL
MassDOT and other agencies distribute information
about planned road closures or highway events.

3rd Parties distribute this information on TV, Radio, and Websites.

Third parties add value to our data by watching traffic cameras, flying helicopters, and have
members of the public giving real-time reports.

Our customers access this data through their TVs, Car Radios, and
over the internet.

NEW MODEL: NOT THAT NEW…
MassDOT, the MBTA, and other agencies distribute service information and
advisories through the developers page and feeds.

3rd Parties distribute through applications on mobile devices and the
web.

Third parties add value by presenting service information in a way that is simple and easy for
the public to understand.

Our customers access service information through the web of mobile
devices.

MASSDOT DEVELOPERS PAGE BETA
July 2009, MassDOT launches the MassDOT Developers as a
resource to developers interested in working with transportation
data!
http://www.mass.gov/eot/developers


WHAT DATA IS AVAILABLE?
• RTAs
– GTFS Files
– Real-time tracking
• MassDOT Highways
– Highway construction events xml feed.
•Feed of planned road closures and other
events.
• Registry of Motor Vehicles
– Branch wait-time XML feed


WHAT DATA IS AVAILABLE?
• MBTA
– T-Alerts RSS Feed
•Service advisories and updates
– GTFS Files
•Files with route and scheduling information
– KML Files
•Station Locations and Routes
–NextBus
•Real Time Pilot XML Feed


WHY GTFS IS IMPORTANT
•Easy place to start: Our agencies were already
exporting data into GTFS for Google Transit
•GTFS is a rapidly-developing international standard
for trip-planning (more than 400 transit systems
use it on six continents).
•Transit app developer expect it and will use it!
•There is already a large market of apps that use
GTFS data.


A NEW APPROACH: DEVELOPER OUTREACH
In addition to opening data, MassDOT Developers efforts
strive to engage the developer community in a new and
different way:
•Monthly meeting with developers
•A focus on allowing developers to shape the direction this effort
takes beginning with a set of relationship principles
•An open conversation through the MassDOT Developers Google
Group
•Use of Twitter for updates @MassDOTdev
•Developers Conference


MASSDOT DEVELOPERS MEETINGS
The MassDOT Developers hold regular developer meetings
to:
•Answer developer questions and address developer concerns.
•Let developers know about new data sets.
•Get to know the developer community
•So they trust us
•So we know what they are up to
•Socialize and network
•MassDOT Developers Holiday Party


DEVELOPER RELATIONSHIP PRINCIPLES
•Respect Resources
•Succeed Together
•Expect Change
•Communication is key
•Open, open, open
•Legal
See the full document at: http://www.mass.gov/eot/developers


MASSDOT DEVELOPERS GOOGLE GROUP
•MassDOT launched a Google Group as a forum for
Developers:
– Gives MassDOT an open forum for announcements and
to answer questions and concerns.
– Allows developers to answer each others questions.
– A forum for collaboration.


A NEW APPROACH

“This approach is a smart 21st-century
alternative to hiring some consultant who
develops inelegant software at exorbitant
costs.”
Boston Globe Editorial, Saturday, September 5, 2009


MASSDOT DEVELOPERS CHALLNEGE
• The MassDOT Developer Challenge called on developers
to create both applications and data visualizations
– Applications for mobile, web, and other formats.
– Visualizations using EOT Developers data to tell the
story of the MBTA.
• The top submission in each category received a
CharlieCard good for 1 year of rides on the MBTA and
recognition at the Developers Conference


DEVELOPER CHALLENGE RESULTS
•6 innovative applications with at least 2
more in development
•8 creative visualizations that tell the story
of the MBTA.


MASSDOT DEVELOPERS: APPLICATIONS


MASSDOT DEVELOPERS: VISUALIZATION

MASSDOT DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE
•200+ Attended the MassDOT Developers Conference on
November 14 at MIT.
•Opportunity for developers to meet other developers,
transportation officials, and other interested parties


www.massdotdevelopersconference09.com


POSITIVE COVERAGE
Finishing up a project at work. Grabbing
coffee. Charging a cell phone. Staying
warm for a few extra minutes at home.
These are some things MBTA bus
passengers may often forgo to make
sure they don't miss their buses. But
those inconveniences could soon
become a thing of the past thanks to a
new T initiative that makes public real-
time bus data.
-
BOSTON METRO – November 16, 2009


POSITIVE COVERAGE
“The best of the brightest of
techies—in sneakers and with
laptops, instead of suits and
legal pads—turned out for a
conference on how MassDOT
and technology developers
could work together to provide
cutting-edge services to
taxpayers (hello, iPhone apps)
at virtually no cost.”
-
WEEKLY DIG – November 18, 2009


LONG TERM GOAL: REAL TIME
• MassDOT’s long-term goal is to release and
support a system-wide real-time data feed.
•MassDOT Real-Time XML Feed Pilot
underway for 5 bus routes.
– Provided by NextBus, inc.
• These applications have the potential to change
the way people use transit.

MBTA REAL TIME XML TRIAL

REAL TIME BUS FEED AVAILABLE FOR
ROUTES: 39, 111, 114, 116, 117

DATA AVAILABLE AT:
http://www.mass.gov/eot/developers/realtime/


REAL TIME: CURRENT MODEL

3


REAL TIME: IMPACT OF OPEN DATA
3: Open Real Time Data and see what
happens…


IN ONE HOUR…
A Google Earth Mashup was created to show the locations of
buses:

IN ONE DAY…
A Google maps Mashup was created to show the locations
of buses:

IN ONE WEEK…
A MAC desktop widget was built displaying MBTA Bus
countdown information:

IN TWO WEEKS…
A simple web application was built displaying MBTA Bus
countdown information:

IN ONE MONTH…
An LED sign was build showing real-time bus countdown
information:
•This signs cost $300 to build and the inventor is looking to put this sign in a Jamaica Plain
business

IN FIVE WEEKS…
An iPhone application was built using real-time information.
•The app received positive coverage on NECN and a story in the Boston Herald.

EXAMPLE: CHICAGO, IL


Community
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Community
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Real-Time
Bus Arrival

FOR $ 300 IN 24 HOURS


NEXT STEPS FOR MASSDOTDEV
•Improve MBTA T-Alerts RSS Feed
•Encourage use of Real-Time XML Trial Feed
•Encourage diverse applications that serve a
wide range of users.
•Investigate opening up real-time information
beyond Trial Feed.


CONTACT US
• Website: http://www.mass.gov/eot/developers
• Twitter: @massdotdev
• Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/massdotdevelopers
• Email: joshua.robin@state.ma.us


MassDOT Developers Presentation - December 2009

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MassDOT Developers Presentation - December 2009