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YourStop - New Bus and Train web site and app

  • 11-04-2019 4:08pm
    #1
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭


    The main focus of YourStop is to allow users find next arrivals at bus stops quickly and easily. Recently viewed stops are automatically saved for easy reuse and favorite stops can be bookmarked.

    Users can find stops using three distinct methods. There is a detailed stop search facility and a capability to browse stops on a map. Perhaps most useful though, is the Locate the Nearest Stops button which is visible on first entering the site. This marks all stop within half a mile of the user on a map. If there are less than 20, the next closest are shown

    There are app versions available for Windows, Amazon and Android users. Apple users should look for an "Add to Home Page" option when using it on their phones. This puts an icon on the screen. When launched with this, the look and feel is similar to native mobile applications.

    While full real time data is available for other regions, only schedules are available in Ireland. There are however plans to complement the schedules with RTI in the near future. For those interested, a comprehensive FB post dealing with this question can be found at

    https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=809794042730067&id=485305331845608

    This post also has plenty of screenshots showing how YourStop works.

    And if you wish receive further updates just hit the like button on the page at

    https://www.facebook.com/YourStop-485305331845608/

    It can be found online at

    https://yourstop.info

    Paul.


Comments

  • #2
    roosterman71
    Registered Users Posts: 5,330 ✭✭✭roosterman71


    This site needs a lot of work. The list for the LUAS has duplicates, click one and a different stations info appears. Haven't delved too much further into it after that early foray


  • #3
    goingnowhere
    Registered Users Posts: 4,131 ✭✭✭goingnowhere


    And the data is completely wrong

    Its showing a full service today from Pearse, even though the station is closed.

    Looks like someone is lifting the data from Google and not from the operator feed.


  • #4
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    It works kinda and it's fast.

    But your UI/UX needs work. As it is it's not usable.

    If I pick a stop say coolmine which has more than one route padding through it only shows me one of them. I can only see the other route by choosing it's terminus. That's show stopper for me.

    It's also shows duplicates when displaying stations. That a glitch but not a show stopper.

    I think it's showing a weekday schedule for one train though.

    I'm curious OP do you use public transport and if not who did you get to test it.


  • #5
    flyingsnail
    Registered Users Posts: 2,752 ✭✭✭flyingsnail


    For limerick it seems to show Galway / Ennis arrivals but no Galway / Ennis departures.


  • #6
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    roosterman71 wrote: »
    This site needs a lot of work. The list for the LUAS has duplicates, click one and a different stations info appears. Haven't delved too much further into it after that early foray

    Ok guys. Lots of responses here and I actually do appreciate this feedback. Lets deal with them individually. Above is correct except that in this case it is not YourStop that needs rectification but rather the raw data source providing the LUAS schedule.

    Delving into detail, the list of LUAS stops comes from a GTFS file called stops.txt. Some sample data is:

    stop_id,stop_name,stop_lat,stop_lon
    "822GA00360","Bluebell","53.3292817872831","-6.33382500275916"
    "822GA00361","Bluebell","53.3293185582209","-6.33388362503054"
    "822GA00363","Blackhorse","53.3342630170598","-6.32753451321294"
    "822GA00364","Blackhorse","53.334299370295","-6.32756312200434"
    "822GA00366","Drimnagh","53.3353461945075","-6.31827231820978"
    "822GA00367","Drimnagh","53.3353913214121","-6.31828555865667"

    As you can see each stop has different identifiers even though the names are doubled up. One is for outbound and one is for inbound. YourStop and other GTFS consuming apps will display all stops in this list using the name. If at source the raw data was changed to the likes of "BlueBell Inbound" and "Bluebell Outbound", then this would be automatically be picked up in YourStop. As it is you have to click on both stops as shown below to see which direction is relevant for you.

    I have sent a request in to the NTA requesting this to be rectified, whether or not it will be actioned is another question.


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  • #7
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    goingnowhere wrote: »
    And the data is completely wrong

    Its showing a full service today from Pearse, even though the station is closed.

    Looks like someone is lifting the data from Google and not from the operator feed.

    YourStop currently only supports schedules for Irish data as realtime data does not yet exist in GTFS format (though this may change from what I hear).

    Work like this is planned well in advance and ideally a new GTFS schedule would have been published well in advance to remove pearse station for last weekend. If that was done, YourStop and Google Transit (which is also GTFS based) would automatically pick it up.

    Other apps use the smart dublin realtime api which is a different source of data. Why yourstop cannot use it and what it does use is detailed at

    https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=809794042730067&id=485305331845608


  • #8
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    flyingsnail wrote: »
    For limerick it seems to show Galway / Ennis arrivals but no Galway / Ennis departures.

    I presume you mean rail rather than bus. The schedules are there alright, see attached. You just need to click to the various stops in the station to see which one contains the info you require.

    The modelling of stations could be done better in the GTFS data. Other cities where the GTFS feeds are used a lot more (like Boston where there are 20+ apps like YourStop) do invest a huge effort in getting the modelling right.


  • #9
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Sounds like you need some form of transformation of data before you display it.


  • #10
    flyingsnail
    Registered Users Posts: 2,752 ✭✭✭flyingsnail


    harringtonp wrote: »
    I presume you mean rail rather than bus. The schedules are there alright, see attached. You just need to click to the various stops in the station to see which one contains the info you require.

    The modelling of stations could be done better in the GTFS data. Other cities where the GTFS feeds are used a lot more (like Boston where there are 20+ apps like YourStop) do invest a huge effort in getting the modelling right.


    Yes I was talking about rail, it seems very unintuitive that clicking on "Limerick services" only gives me Limerick to Limerick Junction, and yet clicking on "
    Limerick Service, Limerick via Nenagh Service, Portlaoise/Limerick Service" gives me Galway / Ennis along side Ballybrophy.


    "Limerick Service, Limerick via Nenagh Service, Portlaoise/Limerick Service" is there twice, once with and once without Limerick Junction services.


  • #11
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    beauf wrote: »
    It works kinda and it's fast.

    But your UI/UX needs work. As it is it's not usable.

    If I pick a stop say coolmine which has more than one route padding through it only shows me one of them. I can only see the other route by choosing it's terminus. That's show stopper for me.

    It's also shows duplicates when displaying stations. That a glitch but not a show stopper.

    I think it's showing a weekday schedule for one train though.

    I'm curious OP do you use public transport and if not who did you get to test it.

    Could you illustrate the particular stop in Coolmine ?

    The way the GTFS raw data is set up is that each operator is a separate feed. What this may mean for your stop in Coolmine is that there are 2 stops shown right beside each other on the map when you are using "Locate the Nearest Stops". They probably are in fact a single physical stop but one on the map is for Dublin bus departures and the other for Go Ahead and each stop would just show the routes for just that operator.

    I can understand why this may be a show stopper for you but as the data is currently setup there is nothing I can do about it. In the West Midlands in the UK, they have combined the data from all bus operators into a single large GTFS feed and this problem does not occur.

    The UX is way better than earlier editions but as you say there is room for improvement. I can't magic it something different but if you have specific suggestions as to items that could be improved easily, I'd be happy to listen.

    I'm from Dublin but haven't lived there in a while. I generally test by comparing against other systems. As only schedules are supported for Ireland I tested by comparing with the Google Transit layer. I can't compensate for mistakes in data though or incomplete modelling as illustrated in the Luas example above. The hope is that the data quality will improve over time and this will be automatically reflected in yourstop without me having to do anything.


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  • #12
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    So I choose coolmine. It shows me three identical results

    Coolmine
    Commuter Service
    M3 Parkway Service
    Maynooth Service
    Sligo/Longford Service

    TBH I've no idea why there are three. Two might make sense.

    No idea which direction until I click into it. I assume that direction is indicated by the station name I'm travelling too. One has Dublin Terminus the other Maynooth/M3 terminus
    But then one of them has Maynooth and Pearse/Connolly in the same list. No idea what that is.


  • #13
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    flyingsnail wrote: »
    Yes I was talking about rail, it seems very unintuitive that clicking on "Limerick services" only gives me Limerick to Limerick Junction, and yet clicking on "
    Limerick Service, Limerick via Nenagh Service, Portlaoise/Limerick Service" gives me Galway / Ennis along side Ballybrophy.


    "Limerick Service, Limerick via Nenagh Service, Portlaoise/Limerick Service" is there twice, once with and once without Limerick Junction services.

    I agree totally. It is unintuitive but that is how the raw data is currently organised. For stations in Boston, MBTA produce a "virtual" stop (in addition to stops for each platform) which shows all departures for a station as you would see on a main hall departure board.

    My own feeling is that the bus feeds are better structured than rail/luas but some of you guys may have a different opinion on this.

    YourStop is a generic system and the Irish feeds were actually quite challenging as there were cases of key data was missing and making them usable required enhancements that were not needed for other regions.


  • #14
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    beauf wrote: »
    It... I can only see the other route by choosing it's terminus. That's show stopper for me....

    I stand corrected it does show multiple routes. It wasn't obvious when looking on the phone earlier.


  • #15
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    beauf wrote: »
    So I choose coolmine. It shows me three identical results

    Coolmine
    Commuter Service
    M3 Parkway Service
    Maynooth Service
    Sligo/Longford Service

    TBH I've no idea why there are three. Two might make sense.

    No idea which direction until I click into it. I assume that direction is indicated by the station name I'm travelling too. One has Dublin Terminus the other Maynooth/M3 terminus
    But then one of them has Maynooth and Pearse/Connolly in the same list. No idea what that is.

    Okay, understand what is going on here. I wasn't aware of this before but the feed now seem to be now including virtual station stops (for some stations anyway). The first image shows the stop representing the entire coolmine station and the other 2 images show stops that presumably represent the inbound and outbound platforms. The problem is that they have named all 3 the same instead of using the stop name to reference what the stop is intended for. I fired of another email shown below to NTA requesting this change.

    The route list is probably good for all 3 as it is the same routes per stop, just different directions

    ---

    In the Irish Rail GTFS stops.txt file, Coolmine is represented as follows:

    stop_id,stop_name,stop_lat,stop_lon,location_type,parent_station
    "824GA00162","Coolmine","53.3777264858856","-6.39076480046325","","Parent26223"
    "824GA00163","Coolmine","53.3776178756794","-6.39070877301582","","Parent26223"
    "Parent26223","Coolmine","53.3775036518625","-6.39156982817204","1",

    Would it be possible to change the stop_name field values to something like:

    "824GA00162","Coolmine Inbound","53.3777264858856","-6.39076480046325","","Parent26223"
    "824GA00163","Coolmine Outbound","53.3776178756794","-6.39070877301582","","Parent26223"
    "Parent26223","Coolmine Station","53.3775036518625","-6.39156982817204","1",

    to distinguish between the stop representing the station as a whole and the stops representing each individual platform.

    This is just one example stop, the same fix is most likely needed elsewhere.


  • #16
    coylemj
    Registered Users Posts: 25,308 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    harringtonp wrote: »
    As you can see each stop has different identifiers even though the names are doubled up. One is for outbound and one is for inbound. YourStop and other GTFS consuming apps will display all stops in this list using the name. If at source the raw data was changed to the likes of "BlueBell Inbound" and "Bluebell Outbound", then this would be automatically be picked up in YourStop. As it is you have to click on both stops as shown below to see which direction is relevant for you.

    I have sent a request in to the NTA requesting this to be rectified, whether or not it will be actioned is another question.

    It won't be rectified. I have already informed the NTA that, using their real time app ('RealTime Ireland') on the 46A route between Foxrock Church and Donnybrook Bus Garage, every single stop is called 'Stillorgan Road'. DB's app gives each stop the name of a nearby landmark or housing estate - Galloping Green, Oatlands College, RTE etc.


  • #17
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,234 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    harringtonp wrote: »
    Recently viewed stops are automatically saved for easy reuse
    What does your privacy impact assessment say about this?


  • #18
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    Victor wrote: »
    What does your privacy impact assessment say about this?

    They are saved locally on your browser in a thing called local storage, server knows nothing them. Do you reckon it warrants being added to the privacy statement ?


  • #19
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    A lot of work has been done with the downloading of stop lists in yourstop as described here

    https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=821506888225449&id=485305331845608

    This may have impacted some users on slower mobile connections but should be a lot faster now


  • #20
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    A new schedule was published a little over a week ago and they seem to have stopped the modelling of virtual station stops on smaller stations. So for Coolmine there are just the 2 stops now, one for each direction. Most likely how it plays out on Google maps is the real driver for these changes.
    harringtonp wrote: »
    Okay, understand what is going on here. I wasn't aware of this before but the feed now seem to be now including virtual station stops (for some stations anyway). The first image shows the stop representing the entire coolmine station and the other 2 images show stops that presumably represent the inbound and outbound platforms. The problem is that they have named all 3 the same instead of using the stop name to reference what the stop is intended for. I fired of another email shown below to NTA requesting this change.

    The route list is probably good for all 3 as it is the same routes per stop, just different directions

    ---

    In the Irish Rail GTFS stops.txt file, Coolmine is represented as follows:

    stop_id,stop_name,stop_lat,stop_lon,location_type,parent_station
    "824GA00162","Coolmine","53.3777264858856","-6.39076480046325","","Parent26223"
    "824GA00163","Coolmine","53.3776178756794","-6.39070877301582","","Parent26223"
    "Parent26223","Coolmine","53.3775036518625","-6.39156982817204","1",

    Would it be possible to change the stop_name field values to something like:

    "824GA00162","Coolmine Inbound","53.3777264858856","-6.39076480046325","","Parent26223"
    "824GA00163","Coolmine Outbound","53.3776178756794","-6.39070877301582","","Parent26223"
    "Parent26223","Coolmine Station","53.3775036518625","-6.39156982817204","1",

    to distinguish between the stop representing the station as a whole and the stops representing each individual platform.

    This is just one example stop, the same fix is most likely needed elsewhere.


  • #21
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Thanks. I do find it useful as it gives all trains(routes) on the line in the same direction whereas other apps only give one route at a time.

    So I might want to get to the Docklands, but will get the next Connolly train if its a lot sooner, and walk back up to the Docklands etc. You can see this easier with YourStop.


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  • #22
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    Improvements around stop list retention and bandwidth efficiency can be read up on at:

    https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=842425729466898&id=485305331845608

    Next up in the pipeline is to place an icon on the maps which will take you back to your current position.


  • #23
    harringtonp
    Registered Users Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭harringtonp


    Following on from user suggestions, the trip layout has been changed so that the trip diagram is the default view. The diagram, map and detail are now shown in separate panes with buttons used to switch between them. This eliminates scrolling and gives faster access to the desired view. Font sizes and the amount of rounding on box corners has also been standardized.

    https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=870656579977146&id=485305331845608


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