BusHunter Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 I finally found a Pace app that works for locating Pace bus arrivals like CTA has Transit Tracks. It's called Ride Chicago and it claims to do Metra too but I think you have to buy the app (pro version) to see Metra. Pace is part of the free app as well as CTA and it does "L" service too. Nice app. It's alot better than Pace bus tracker!! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dattanlabs.ridechicago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 (edited) I'll say this now since I'm toying around with transit apps today: the iPhone version doesn't work for Pace Stops, especially for the need of real-time information. At the very least, if you use the WGN Traffic app, you can have everything organized into one functioning app (granted, it'll direct you to the respective trackers, but YMMV). Edited April 13, 2015 by MetroShadow iPhone Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 There are a lot of comments that it doesn't work. Also,the history indicates that it has to be updated every time there is a new route, so that doesn't sound that handy. Also, as opposed to the CTA Apps that clearly use its interface, Pace says on the GTFS page "Pace also provides real time arrival/departure predictions on our Pace Bus Tracker page. This data is not available for download." Hence, since this purports to provide real time data, one has to wonder if it does or what it uses as a source. Maybe that explains the comment that a reading was 20 minutes off the actual bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted April 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 I know Pace itself can screw around with the service when using pace bus tracker so it's really not reliable either. Maybe if the format was in a countdown clock style like CTA does it would work better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 I know Pace itself can screw around with the service when using pace bus tracker so it's really not reliable either. Maybe if the format was in a countdown clock style like CTA does it would work better. It doesn't seem to make much difference if the reading is expected arrival at 3:23 p.m., or 7 minutes from now. The only question is whether the reading is reliable at all, and in the case of the app, whether it is even real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted April 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 It doesn't seem to make much difference if the reading is expected arrival at 3:23 p.m., or 7 minutes from now. The only question is whether the reading is reliable at all, and in the case of the app, whether it is even real. it seemed to work when I used it. As far as it being real click the link and see if it's real. It's probably not good to judge on the gossip of others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 it seemed to work when I used it. As far as it being real click the link and see if it's real. It's probably not good to judge on the gossip of others. It wasn't a matter of gossip, but that Pace itself said that the real time data could not be downloaded. Go back to the link in post #3. I have the feeling that it works in the real world only because Pace buses usually run on schedule (or the schedules have enough recovery time to assure that they do). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Also, as opposed to the CTA Apps that clearly use its interface, Pace says on the GTFS page "Pace also provides real time arrival/departure predictions on our Pace Bus Tracker page. This data is not available for download." Hence, since this purports to provide real time data, one has to wonder if it does or what it uses as a source. Maybe that explains the comment that a reading was 20 minutes off the actual bus. If there's no API, they may be "scraping" the web pages (essentially, programmatically loading the public web pages and extracting the necessary data). It's not ideal, but it can work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 If there's no API, they may be "scraping" the web pages (essentially, programmatically loading the public web pages and extracting the necessary data). It's not ideal, but it can work. When put that way, maybe they figured out a way to "Text 'pace---' to 41411" by using the GTFS data for the bus stop number. BTW, I saw a couple of bus stop signs with the "Text --- to 41411" message, but the space where the stop number was supposed to be (blue square in the illustration on this page) was blank. However, that purports to return the time until next bus, instead of the arrival time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted April 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 The only way to put this to rest is to compare the same times between Pace Bus Tracker and this app. If they are the same and they should be then this app is as real as Pace Bus Tracker. Like Kevin says as a programmer there is always a work around. Just because Pace doesn't provide the info doesn't mean they still can't find a way to get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicagos_D Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I use this app frequently in between using CTA mobile website. I previously used Redeye's app, searched CTA's recommended apps and started using this one. My personal experience is that it's just as useful and reliable. I will say on CTA's side if their bus and/or train tracker is temporarily out of order so is this app. My normal travel starts and ends at Ford City so if I were to miss my normal 54B bus towards Midway in the morning, I use this app to catch the next pace bus either 379 or 383 towards Midway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Downtown Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 The app known as Transit seems to work just fine with CTA and Pace, as well as systems in other cities you travel to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 The app known as Transit seems to work just fine with CTA and Pace, as well as systems in other cities you travel to. Transit is my absolute favorite on any platform, although it only shows scheduled times for Pace. The app BusHunter mentioned claims to show real time Pace arrivals, despite Pace not having the API necessary to make that data easily available to developers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 I'll vouch for Transit above all of the others (despite paying the full $5 before they went free), mainly for compatibility for the other agencies including ours. The best way to see if any app (including the Ventra trials) that can compare real time to see if its working is through the Webwatch and match that with the times on the screen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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