Real-time bus information on mobile devices

Abstract

We report on a real-time transit vehicle information system which delivers content to Internet-enabled mobile devices, such as cell phones. The content is in the form of predicted arrival/departure times for buses at user-selectable geographic locations within a transit region. We discuss how the physical restrictions of such devices, e.g., screen size and paucity of keyboard options, influences the user interface design. An overview of the system architecture is provided, together with some preliminary usage results.