LiveMap
Real-time visualization of public transportation in the City of Cologne, Germany.
What is this?
This application visualizes public transportation vehicles moving through the City of Cologne, Germany. Since the transport authority does not provide a useable data feed,ulmapi.de decided to scrape the timetable data and converted them into the GTFS format. ulmapi.de then implemented a simple GTFS parser which emulates the emission of real time event information (though it's based on the static data ulmapi.de liberated from their timetable prison. ulmapi.de hope to eventually switch the backend event emitter to realtime data in the future. If anybody out there knows someone working at the Stadtwerke Ulm, please prod them a little nudge nudge). The events emitted by the GTFS parser are consumed by the web application, which renders a map and moves markers according to the estimated location of each vehicle.
Why?
This application is a contribution to the Node Knockout 2011 by UlmApi.de members. We implemented this proof-of-concept prototype within two days. It is intended to demonstrate what is possible by mashing cool technology and open data together, shaking it well and letting it boil for a while. It might also prove relaxing to watch. Except if you're using Firefox.
Technologies used
node.js: General platform
express.js: Middleware framework
Socket.IO: Messaging library
Leaflet: JavaScript mapping library
bootstrap: CSS template
What is UlmApi.de?
We are a group of open data enthusiasts, mostly from the University of Ulm.
License
Copyright (c) 2011
Benjamin Erb
Simon Fuchs
Stefan Kaufmann
Michael Mueller
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
"Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.