New York City's MTA is gearing up to wire all of its subway stations for cellular use, and has released the full list of application concepts created by developers for subway riders. The public can vote now -- what would make your ride better?
"The public can flip through the list, see sample screen shots, video demos and imagine a world where a phone can guide a blind person through stations, read signage for you or generate a subway map that automatically changes with construction and weekend re-routing and know what restaurants and stores are right above your stop," writes Alex Goldmark.
Goldmark notes that many of the app ideas are workarounds for getting through the system without internet access, but there are also a few breakthrough ideas that will excite planners and regular passengers alike. For example, "BuzzJourney is a trip planner for people who want to mix it up between buses, carpooling, bike share and subways, because it might just be faster to plan to take a bus to bike share than sitting tight on the subway... The MetroNap App is for subterranean sleepers. It detects when a train is moving and figures out where you are so that it can wake you up at your stop."
Although the final decision on which apps to fund will be made by judges, the public can vote on its favorite ideas and the developer will receive a $1,000 prize.
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research