Incremental Improvements in Public Transit: HEA++

During my elementary and middle school years I rode the 80 Express home every afternoon. In Hawaii Kai I’d have to transfer to the 58 at Kamiloiki school, which meant killing time on the curb anxiously waiting for my bus to round the corner. It was agonizingly unpredictable. Impatience would eventually lead me to tempt fate by stop-hopping towards home. This involved walking from one stop to the next, trying to avoid getting caught haplessly in-between when the bus finally appeared.

As a carefree child, not knowing the bus’ arrival time was an opportunity for play. As a commuter however, it’s one of the most frustrating aspects of Hawaii’s public transit system. Unlike a dedicated subway or rail system, which runs on a controlled track, bus systems are subject to uncontrollable variables that directly impact their schedule. Traffic, construction, and accidents all contribute to delays and unpredictability. Many cities have installed digital timetables at individual stops that utilize GPS data to display the next bus, as well as its estimated time of arrival. This is useful information for riders, and particularly effective at major junctions within the system, however it is unlikely that quaint neighborhood stops such as Kamiloiki receive such treatment. Doing so would be expensive and largely inefficient.

One particularly efficient solution is to democratize the real-time transit data, which is exactly what the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system has done. BART provides an application programming interface (API) for developers that allows real-time access to schedules, station area information, and real-time arrivals via XML. This open data initiative empowers BART users, many of whom are application designers, to develop solutions without formal approval or guidance. Timothy Moore, BART’s website manager, noted last year in a Washington Post article:

“With no in-house developer to create new applications, and in a time of extremely tight budgets, this is a great way to foster new services that directly benefit customers.”

With the proliferation of smartphones and improved cellular networks, physical timetable displays are becoming less important. As the BART example proves, it is access to the data that is critical. A significant benefit of accessible data is its portability. Google Transit is a fantastic resource for planning trips using public transit, and utilizes transit agency data as outlined in their Google Transit Partner Program. Of course, one would expect such awesomeness from Google, which recently adorned their street view icon with 3-d glasses.

TheBus was an early partner of Google Transit, having been covered by the service since 2006, but what about access to real-time data?  To my amazement, TheBus is actually making an attempt. In July of 2009 they released the HEA (Honolulu Estimated Arrival), which provides real-time arrival and departure data for individual stops.

While HEA is a valiant first effort, there are numerous shortcomings. Michael Whalen, an avid rider and web developer, took it upon himself to better the HEA system and released an improved version dubbed HEA++. Michael’s application is designed specifically for smartphones and includes several enhancements, such as utilizing GPS to find stops near your current location, listing the route and direction of a stop, and the ability to locate stops near stops.

An official TheBus placard signifying this stop's unique identifier.

I asked Michael how an open data initiative would benefit developers. “Right now with HEA++, I’ve combined publicly available stop data (intersection, lat, long, routes, etc…) with scraping the real HEA site on every request to fetch the real-time data. Unfortunately that’s the only bit of data that I can collect, the times for a particular stop. That closes the door to a lot of cool things that can be done to enhance a rider’s experience.”

Another issue with HEA is its complete lack of promotion, and rider awareness is questionable at best. Michael continues,

“I don’t think very many people know about HEA. The only reason that I found out about it, is because my girlfriend’s uncle is a driver at TheBus. He and I would chat when he got off work, and he told me about HEA. I try not to snoop on others, but I’ve seen one other person using HEA out on the street on his iPhone.”

Tools such as HEA may take the excitement out of stop-hopping, but new methods of play have already weaved their way into our digital lifestyle, with the potential to shift a generation’s perspective on the use of public transport. Eliminating the negative stigmas people attach to public transportation would go a long way. Imagine if it were actually really cool to ride the bus?

While the state considers massive infrastructure improvements to Hawaii’s public transit system, it’s important not to overlook these opportunities for incremental gains in the existing system’s efficiency. They’re actions that can be initiated immediately, without the need for environmental impact studies or assessments. Actions that will increase both the convenience and attractiveness of riding TheBus. Actions that will gain value as the system expands to include additional modes of transport. It’s a route we should already be on.