PIDman

Why was this application created?

In our village, bus connections are often delayed, so it often happens that one comes to a stop and sees three stacked connections depart (due to various delays) and then waits half an hour for the next one (even if the interval between connections is less than 10 minutes).

This has not happened to me for the last three years thanks to the Mafo application, which is the predecessor of this application. The Mafo application displays the current location of the bus (displays a map with the location from mpvnet.cz) - it is a somewhat rough solution, but usable. The disadvantage of this application is that only one bus can be displayed and the timetables are only for buses and trams.

So PIDman was born. From the name it is clear that this will be a PID (Prague Integrated Transport).

Timetables are downloaded from the PID of open data https://pid.cz/o-systemu/opendata/ and data on the location of buses from the Golemio API. So far, Golemio only provides bus and tram locations.

So now I can display above the map all connections that meet the conditions of the defined route or set and at the same time I get data from the Golemio API. It is possible to display the selected connection above the mpvnet map, as the position in this view is usually more current (in the morning rush hour even more than a minute).

Sometimes it happens that the connection runs but does not transmit its position (there may be a fault) - from three years of experience, this occurs about once a month.

If there is no position data, the position according to the timetable is displayed.

It is not the purpose of the application to search for routes with transfers (there are many other options for this). The primary purpose is to track when my connection goes for one direct route. I may have the option to use multiple direct routes - then I can use a set that combines multiple routes.

Downloaded timetables should be valid for about 10 days - the application can be updated daily.

What else is worth mentioning:
- filtered display of stops above the map (by type of vehicle or by zone)
- display of own position with respect to stops
- display of all nearest departures from the stop
- display of connection details (both the list of stops and above the map)
- departure time of the metro to seconds (suitable for deciding whether to add to a step or slow down)

So why was this application created? Because I don't want to wait unnecessarily at the bus stop. And what about you?