NYC Subway Time LED Matrix Display

Overview

Raspberry Pi (Pi 3 Model B or later recommended) with internet access over ethernet or WiFi
- Do not overclock it (can cause screen issues)
SD Card (8GB Class 10 or better)
LED Matrix. I used this Adafruit one, which is 64 x 32 with a 5mm led spacing
Adafruit RGB Matrix driver. I used this one with the RTC, but you should be able to use the regular one.
Adequate power for the display and Pi. This adapter should work great.
- It's worth noting that my display is configured with 2A to the hat and 500mA to the Pi over USB. It works using lower brightness, but there is some flicker.
Appropriate peripherals (Display, keyboard, mouse, etc) or SSH enabled by default.

Install Raspbian (No desktop environment needed)
Keeping the default user "pi" will work best, as that is what's configured in packageinst.sh
- You may still change the default password
- If are advanced and you wish to use a different username, modify packageinst.sh for the new paths.
Enable SSH
Get an MTA API key here.
Install Python 3 (likely installed by default) and PIP (you likely will need to install) on the Raspberry Pi (For retrieving packages)
Follow this Adafruit guide to get the examples running on your display.
- You can pick between quality and convenience, both work for the purposes of this guide.
- Ensure that you are able to run example 0 (the rotating cube) before continuing.
- If the display works for a second and then shuts off, you may not have sufficient power.
- If there is severe aliasing or flickering, experiment with different values for --led-gpio-slowdown. I used --led-gpio-slowdown=2

At this point, I'm assuming that you have the rotating cube demo file working. Your file structure should look like /home/pi/rpi-rgb-led-matrix/bindings/python/samples/
We will be keeping this file structure during this guide for the sake of simplicity.

Move the files rundisplay.py , mtacalls2.py (be sure to add your API key in the two places) , stops.csv , and packageinst.sh to /home/pi/rpi-rgb-led-matrix/bindings/python/samples/
- Using FileZilla over SFTP is the reccommended way to do this.

In your SSH window, change directory to our main directory
- cd /home/pi/rpi-rgb-led-matrix/bindings/python/samples/
Run packageinst.sh (You may need to make the file executable using the command below)
- sudo chmod +x packageinst.sh
- sudo ./packageinst.sh
Check your work. You should see lots of new folders in the /home/pi/rpi-rgb-led-matrix/bindings/python/ directory.

First, make rundisplay.py executable
- sudo chmod +x rundisplay.py
Then, run the code (Modify this code as needed for your display).
- sudo ./rundisplay.py --led-rows=32 --led-cols=64 --led-slowdown-gpio=2 -b=30
You should see train times appear after a few minutes of the code running. You should see the times appear on your terminal window as they are loaded by the API as well.
If this works, jump to the customization section. If not, follow the troubleshooting section.

Ensure whatever file you are trying to run is executable
- sudo chmod +x filename.abc
Ensure all python packages are loaded
Ensure you entered your API key probably
Recheck whether you can run the rotating cube demo file

edit mtacalls.py using nano to add the below line:
- print(totalstationtimes("A41"))
then, run mtacalls.py
- sudo python3 mtacalls.py
you should see train times print out after a few seconds. If you don't, and you see a python error, search the error on stack exchange.

Use stops.csv to find the code for your desired station(s). Use only the first three letters.
- e.g, 232 for Borough Hall, or A41 for Jay St-Metrotech.
- Note that the station names for some stations in stops.csv have been shortened to fit better on the display.
- Ensure to change the data links on line 10 of mtacalls.py if your station is not on the 1,2,3,4,5,6,A,B,C,D,E,F,M
- You may also need to edit the c value in lines 140 and 142 of rundisplay.py to reflect the number of stations if you are not using 3.
Modify the time filter for how long it takes you to get to your station (change mintoarrival on line 51 of mtacalls2.py)
Modify the font - I like the font spleen. Change on line 56 of rundisplay.py
Edit /etc/rc.local to make the display start on boot and run continuously
- See example rc.local file
- I also recommend creating a cron job that reboots the pi automatically every day. This will help with stability.