Never Missing the Train Again

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Physical next‑departure displays

  • Many commenters like always‑on, glanceable displays at home, especially when services run every 10–20 minutes.
  • People describe similar setups using Tidbyt, Home Assistant on repurposed tablets, Raspberry Pi screens, Arduino/TFT, and custom LED/physical departure boards.
  • Several emphasize that a wall display reduces “phone friction” and avoids the distraction of opening an app.

Kindle and e‑ink implementation details

  • Some note you can use the Kindle’s built‑in browser plus disabled screensaver to show a webpage, avoiding jailbreak and image rendering.
  • Others report that debug commands like ~ds to disable sleep have been removed on newer firmware; older Kindles remain more hackable but lack updates and store access.
  • HTTPS certificate issues on older devices mean many users would host a local server.
  • There’s interest in an official “kiosk mode” for old Kindles as a sanctioned reuse path.

Existing transit apps and alternatives

  • Multiple apps already provide “next departures near me”: Transit, Citymapper, Apple/Google Maps, local agency tools, and various open‑source projects (e.g., OneBusAway, Öffi, region‑specific apps).
  • Enthusiasts praise some UIs and features (widgets, mixed‑mode routing, local‑first design) but others object to extensive data sharing with third parties.

Data sources and realtime reliability

  • Many agencies expose GTFS/GTFS‑Realtime APIs; some are praised for good API design, others for poor or missing feeds.
  • Experience with realtime accuracy is mixed: some say predictions are “to the minute,” others describe buses appearing when apps say they’re minutes away or “delayed.”
  • Explanations offered include GPS dropouts, traffic variability, and differences between schedule‑based vs. GPS‑based predictions.

Design, language, and implementation debates

  • Some argue a simple “next few departures” view solves everyday, routine travel better than full route planners; others say they always need multimodal, alternative‑aware trip planning.
  • There’s a side debate over “buses” vs. “busses” as the plural of “bus.”
  • A few question using Rust and PNG rendering instead of a browser and simpler languages, while others stress that the main gains came from architectural changes (dropping headless Chrome) rather than language choice.