By and far, we are pretty darn positive around here when it comes to our friends at METRO light rail. The trains are nice, the service is reliable, and the benefits to our region have been many. If I were to pick a topic that seemed to annoy people about the Phoenix light rail system, I’d have to say it’s not knowing when a train will be arriving at a station. Many riders know how to check the schedule for the trains but would much rather have an app on their phone that shows when the next train will arrive. Heck, when it’s 110* outside, someone might want to stay indoors as long as possible.
Other cities have the ability for riders near a station to check their phones and see how close the next train is from a given point. In the past, METRO has been pretty hesitant to release the necessary information for people to build an app to see where the trains are, as they have cited safety concerns, among other reason$.
While I am not aware of an official announcement, it does appear that the light rail system may soon allow people to track the whereabouts of oncoming trains. The following nugget of information was tweeted by METRO recently after a rider asked if there was an android app for schedules.
“No, we’ve not built one. But this fall, we will have a way to give riders real-time info from their phones. More to come…”
Give riders real-time information from their phones? Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Seriously, that would be a great improvement. I know there are times when trains are 20 minutes apart, this kind of information could be a big help.
Heck, if I can track a golf ball to within a couple of yards after I shank it off of a tee box, you’d think I could track a train coming at me to within a minute, or so.
Real-time information on where your next train is? Soon, we might be able to say… There’s an app for that!
Photo by Matthew Petro
I hope this happens – I know that I’d use that app all the time!