Mybus.org - MetroKC web site - URL variations

Publically useful url additions:

Showing events associated with specific routes

Show only events matching a specified route id or ids. Append one or more 'route' parameters to the URL query string, e.g.

http://mybus.org/metrokc/avl.jsp?id=5903&route=31

http://mybus.org/metrokc/avl.jsp?id=5903&route=31&route=65

'Debug' url additions for ITS/UW use:

Distinguishing virtual events from real scheduled events

Append 'vtp' parameter to the query string, with the value 'on', e.g.

http://mybus.org/metrokc/avl.jsp?id=5903&vtp=on

Virtual events have the scheduled event time shown with seconds resolution, e.g. 11:57:36am, as opposed to minute resolution of real events, e.g 12:10pm. A virtual event is one invented by ITS/UW when a bus on trip T passes through a timepoint location but that location is not associated with a scheduled event time in Metro's database for trip T. The invented event time for the virtual event is derived by interpolation from the real events surrounding the virtual event.

Specifying time window

The Mybus store holds current prediction info for every event in the schedule. The Mybus web app simply queries this store, providing an event location id and a time interval. Data is returned for events whose schedule times fall in the time interval. By default, the Mybus web app sets the time interval to be (NOW - 20 mins, NOW + 30 mins). [From the resultant set of event predictions, departures more than 10 mins old are removed, this is not configurable via URL manipulation].

Two types of time interval can be specified: absolute and relative. The default scenario above is thus a relative interval, since it uses NOW.

Absolute Times:

Absolute time means minutes into current day. For example, to see the state of the Mybus store for location 5903 (UW Hub) between 5am and 7am (for the current day):

http://mybus.org/metrokc/avl.jsp?id=5903&from=300&to=420

Both 'from' and 'to' have be set, a single parameter will be disregarded. Note that because of departed event filtering, only 'No Info' event statuses are likely to appear.

Relative Times:

To see event statuses from 10 mins ago to an hour into the future:

http://mybus.org/metrokc/avl.jsp?id=5903&past=10&future=60

If either the 'past' or 'future' parameter is not given, the default is used (20 for past, 30 for future):

http://mybus.org/metrokc/avl.jsp?id=5903&future=60

Note that the predictor only predicts for events say 30 mins into the future, so showing events way into the future (i.e. a large value for the 'future' parameter), will result in many 'No Info's.

Debug Mode

Replace the regular 'avl.jsp' with 'avld.jsp', e.g.

http://mybus.org/metrokc/avld.jsp?id=5903

Subsequent display shows expanded information about each event. Columns 1 through 8 are schedule information:

  1. block id , hyperlink to block-oriented page
  2. trip id
  3. trip destination
  4. route id
  5. time point id, hyperlink to timepoint-oriented page
  6. time point name
  7. event time
  8. event type: 8 - start of layover, 9 - end of layover, 10 - start of trip, 11 - end of trip 150 - passing, 151 - passing (interpolated, i.e. a 'virtual' event)
Columns 9 and higher relate to AVL information, and are thus dynamic:
  1. vehicle id
  2. date, time at which most recent prediction made. Important to note date, since predictions may be for a much earlier day than current day, and is thus stale and should not be interpreted for current day.
  3. distance to event (goal). +ve means bus not yet reached event, -ve means passed event. When bus is deemed to have reached the goal for certain (nominally 500 feet past), predictions cease for that event.
  4. prediction type. Affects how following column, the 'goal time', should be interpreted. 'p' - predicted goal time, 'e' - estimated goal time, which means the predictor had sufficient data to derive an exact time for goal attainment (and Mybus text will thus be 'Departed AT time'), 'o' - observed goal time, which means the predictor could only say that the goal must have been reached before a later time at which the bus was observed to have past the goal (Mybus text says 'Departed BY time')
  5. goal time, either predicted, estimated or observed, see details of column 12.
  6. deviation, in seconds, of goal time (column 13) from scheduled time (column 7). +ve means late, -ve means early.
Valid HTML 4.01!