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Build Your Own LCD Bus Schedule

Posted by michael on from the mass-transit dept.

MikeLRoy writes "An engineering student in Winnipeg, tired of missing his bus to school (and waiting in the cold) created an LCD bus stop. It displays the next bus times for several stops and routes, all from the heated comfort of his kitchen. And yes, there are pics and code on the site."

11 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. what?? by xao+gypsie · · Score: 5, Funny

    why, back in my day, we didnt have all these new fangled computer bus scheduler thingies. we had to work out the algorithm in our heads in the snow uphill going both ways....kids these days......

    xao

    --


    xao
    http://TheHillforum.hopto.org
    1. Re:what?? by angst_ridden_hipster · · Score: 5, Funny

      Emergency hatches? Why you lucky bastards! Where I grew up, the busses were sealed. If we wanted a ride, we'd have to chase after them, and grab on to a bit of barbed wire tied to the rear bumper, and hold on for dear life as we got dragged to our destination.

      Emergency hatches? Feh! No wonder the youth of today are so soft. Why, you probably had all your own limbs all the way up to adulthood! Emergency hatches...

      --
      Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
      www.fogbound.net
    2. Re:what?? by damien_kane · · Score: 5, Funny

      we had to work out the algorithm in our heads in the snow uphill going both ways...

      I remember the times my dad used to tell me this story all the time...
      Now I just say 'Shut up, Dad; or I'm putting you in a home'...

  2. Hrm. by d3kk · · Score: 5, Funny

    What I'd like to know is why an engineering student is still worried about missing a bus to school..

  3. This idiot didn't realize there is a bus schedule? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What happened to either 1) looking the routes online, or 2) grabbing the routes from the library? Was this guy just going out to bus stops at random, hoping he got there at the right time? What was so hard about viewing the paper schedule?

    And how is he gonna use this thing he made when he's AWAY from home? Come home?

  4. Re:Buses? by smithmc · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Waddaya mean, "be a grad student my hole life"? He's an undergraduate freshman. And if you want to skip school and jump into the job market as a tester, that's all fine and good, but if you did it for the money (as your post indicates) it wasn't such a good move. Ten years from now, this guy's probably going to be making at least twice your salary.

    --
    Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
  5. Amazingly by rcs1000 · · Score: 5, Informative

    In England we have a lot of this technology already.

    (Amazingly, too, English people seem convinced their country is heading backwards at full speed towards the ice age, but that's another story.)

    In central London all the bus stops contain LED displays showihng how long you'll have to wait for each bus. Likewise, on the tube (underground, subway) their are simialr displays. Normally they say things like "Baker Street 3minutes; Chancery Lane you'll be lucky" but hey...

    There are companies like Kizoom (sp?) that offer these same services over WAP so you can make sure that when you leave your home/office then you *will* make your bus, metro, etc.

    --
    --- My dad's political betting
    1. Re:Amazingly by FrostedWheat · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was traveling south a few months ago, and in Luton I saw this.

      Had to take a picture :)

      Image quality is rubbish, cheap camera.

  6. how it works in London by fiddlesticks · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Less homebrewed than this cool hack, London Transport (LRT) has been operating a system of displaying (estimated) wait times for certian routes for a good few years

    Some observations:
    1. When I lived above a London bus stop, I could lean out the window and see when the next bus was due :)
    2. This was great, but *useless* if it relied on scheduled times
    3. LRT soon installed receiver/ transmitters into its buses, reporting a far more accurate ETA, as they could report bad delays in real(ish) time
    4. sometimes I noticed humans on the end of the LCDs - eg once it reported 'awful traffic...no idea of arrival' :)


    5. Plans are afoot for the following: audio repeater, large Countdown signs at bus stations, hand-held Countdown terminals for operations staff and a central real-time travel information desk

      Loads of info

      Nice image - Nice image

      blurb
    --
    http://milkshake.dexy.org
  7. Re:with the money and time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    that he put into the LCD and everything else in the project, he could have worked and bought a car. Sure, there's the geeky challenge of it all, but just as you don't win friends with salad, you don't get chicks by riding the bus.

    quite, possibly, like my self, he has a car but chooses to take the bus becasue:

    • buses are more environmently friendly
    • buses don't need to park
    • buses cost less to ride
    • ect

    sure i don't get chicks while riding the bus, but who wants a chick that is that shallow?

    remember, one person can't fix the world alone, but one can ruin it for all

  8. Re:I wish I had thought of that... by mrseigen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Considering that here in Alberta we don't have that, I don't think it's very likely that any non-Ontario provinces will have it either. I get my bus schedules from taking out my cell phone and calling the number on the bus stop sign, which then tells me that there are x minutes remaining until a bitter public servant crashes his bus into the shelter I'm cowering behind.

    Neat idea though.