Just a few more data points

I know it’s been quite on the topic of SeattleBus lately… so here’s an update.

I’ve been working through some updated interface designs and getting an update ready to go. I ended up developing and then throwing out a number of attempts and ideas after getting them down on the device. The biggest issue wasn’t the specific look – they didn’t look particularly bad – but that the end result wasn’t as concise. (Of note: getting section titles formatted in any reasonable way for a grouped UITableView is a real pain.)

Experiments for this round complete, I’ve landed the programming pieces of an update that I’m happy with, and which will represent the 1.1 release when I’m ready to push it out the door. The key features:

• The individual bus stop pages will have a refresh button to get updated information about that stop. (previously, you had to navigate back to a list view and then to the stop again)
• The color coding of the wait times has been simplified and nailed down. Green means there’s an expectation that the bus is on schedule, and red means it’s delayed.
• Added the display of “express” buses with an “X” next to the route
• I’ve added nearly 100 stops that had been missing from an earlier version of the application, and the associated code to handle seamless database updates (for this and any future updates).

The only thing holding up the release is getting some of the details ironed out from that last update feature. Basically, I’m missing some location data for some stops, and I need to figure out the physical locations to finish this up. The places that are still pending:

• SOUTH LAKE UNION STREETCAR BARN
• 2 AV NE & NE ALDER ST
• ATLANTIC BASE NW YARD
• SEACREST MARINA PARKING LOT
• FEDERAL WAY TRANSIT CENTER (ALL BAYS)
• KENT CITY HALL
• 104 AV SE at 26300 BLK
• KENT RAIL STATION (ALL BAYS)
• ISSAQUAH HIGHLANDS P&R (ALL BAYS)
• BURIEN TRANSIT CENTER (ALL BAYS)
• OVERLAKE TRANSIT CENTER (ALL BAYS)
• AUBURN RAIL STATION (ALL BAYS)
• SOUTH RENTON P & R (ALL DIRECTIONS)
• TUKWILA P&R (ALL DIRECTIONS)
• MEEKER/PARK COURT
• FAIRVIEW AV N & WARD ST
• KING CO AQUATIC CENTER
• PROVIDENCE POINT
• 15TH AV NW & NW LEARY WY
• 116 AV NE& NE 12 ST
• AUBURN GSA SOCIAL SECURITY
• RENTON TRANSIT CENTER (ALL BAYS)
• SEA-TAC AIRPORT (ALL BAYS)
• REDMOND TC BAY 6
• REDMOND TC LAY A
• 1 AV N & W TEMPERANCE ST
• SODO BUSWAY & S HOLGATE ST
• 4 AV SW & SW 146 ST
• KENT STATION 1 AV N
• EASTGATE P&R (ALL BAYS)
• KIRKLAND TRANSIT CENTER (ALL BAYS)
• AUBURN P&R (ALL BAYS)
• AURORA VILLAGE TRANSIT CENTER (ALL BAYS)
• NORTHGATE TRANSIT CENTER (ALL BAYS)
• SEACREST DOCK
• NEWPORT HS ROADWAY
• REDMOND TOWNE CENTER
• I-405 & NE 128 ST
• ISS TC BAY 1
• ISS TC BAY 2
• ISS TC BAY 3
• ISS TC BAY 4
• ISS TC BAY 5
• ISS TC BAY 6
• ISS TC LAYOVER

Some of these are obviously easy… a little time with Google Earth and I’ll have them nailed. Others, well – I’m not quite sure what or where “ISS Transit Center” is, let alone Seacrest dock or Auburn GSA Social Security. Guess I’ll be learning. If you have a suggestion on what or where some of these are (specific geolocation data would be most helpful), I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, I’ll be hunting down the last of this data to get an update out the door.