Travel Times: Communicating subway train speeds

By presenting subway train speed metrics in a different manner, goodservice.io is able to provide an easier way to make sense of the data.

In a previous post, goodservice.io introduced the idea of traffic conditions for subways: a percentage value metric comparing the time it has taken trains to travel from point A to point B to their scheduled runtimes. I also explained how even when existing transit navigation apps use real-time data to predict when you can catch a train, they still rely on published train timetables to calculate the journey time of the transit vehicle. The traffic condition metric fills a gap in knowledge of how well trains are currently running.

Previous interface introducing Traffic Conditions for the R train.

However, as I began to iterate on the feature, it became apparent to me that the metric was not very easy to understand, nor intuitive. It was a step too far into abstraction. It was difficult for a layperson to look at the metric and answer questions like: How many more minutes is my trip taking if traffic condition is at+51%? Would taking the local train be faster than taking the slower-than-usual express? Would getting on an alternate route get me there quicker?

A cantilever sign on the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx comparing travel times of using the more direct but slower-moving I-95/Cross Bronx Expressway with a combination of I-278/Bruckner Expressway and I-87/Major Deegan Expressway to get to the George Washington Bridge (via Google Street View)

Taking another cue from auto traffic management, I was inspired by variable messaging signs on highways that would show detected travel time from the sign’s location to a major junction or crossing, sometimes comparing traffic using different routes. For goodservice.io, Travel Time is a measurement between two stations where generally one or more train routes travel on the same tracks in its entirety. Interestingly enough, this was data that was already tracked and processed by goodservice.io to calculate traffic conditions, but now presented in a different manner.

The Travel Times here for Central Park West show that maybe taking a local uptown train is as good as trying to wait for an express train.

Because this is a made in New York solution that caters to the New York subway system, it of course can handle different service patterns that stem from different schedule periods as well as service changes overnight and during weekends.

Travel Times for the Queens Boulevard Line during the transition to overnight operation where the R stops running and the E starts running local.

This was a learning experience on how much more useful data can be if it is presented in a different way, even if the underlying data is the same. Travel Times, now available in any train or line view on goodservice.io!

Travel Times give us a precise look on how much time is saved by taking a Broadway Line train over the Manhattan Bridge compared to going through Lower Manhattan.

goodservice.io is an open-source project to provide New York City subway riders a more detailed and up-to-date status page using public APIs. Contributions are welcome on GitHub. Feedback can be directed to @_blahblahblah or @goodservice_io on Twitter.