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We covered the launch of BusRyda, which provides mobile MBTA info, last week. The service has already expanded to include a Trip Planner that will help you find out how to get from one particular place to another. Designed with the iPhone in mind, BusRyda also works on other mobile phones. Bostonist talked to BusRyda founder Eric D. Fields, who has a closer connection with DMX than you might think. Read on to learn how toast played a critical part in the creation of this fine new service.
How was BusRyda conceived?
BusRyda is a quintessential example of a scratching-an-itch solution to an annoying problem.
I buckled and purchased an iPhone in April and actually started using a web browser on a phone. It was my first real experience with the mobile web.
Now, when I'm out and about in a part of Boston that's new to me and I want to get home, I usually look for a bus near Sullivan because its a major hub close to my apartment. I found that going to mbta.com on a phone actually gives you a mobile-optimized version of its bus and train schedules—optimized meaning small load size and few or no external files like images or javascript — which was great, but it had a clunky interface. Finding the right bus schedule was cumbersome and then when you found it, you had to scroll all the way down to the time of day.
As a web designer, I think interfaces should get you to relevant information as fast as possible. Relevance to a mobile bus rider means the schedule for the bus I want near or after the current time of day and FAST.
Coming home on the the 91 from Central Square one day, I sketched out the UI for what BusRyda would be. At the time, a former colleague of mine was organizing The Web Challenge. The challenge is to see who can make the most successful website in 60 days measured off of different criteria like unique visitors and the like. I barely tried to build my original entry, and this idea seemed so simple to build that I knew I had to get it done and change my entry.
When I got home, I worked feverishly for 3-4 hours, totally forgetting that I was starving, and coded this little app up in PHP. Then I had some toast.
What sets the service apart from other mobile MBTA / transportation services?
Simplicity is a big part of my web design ethos. I think BusRyda's tools are easy enough to use while filling the largest need. Both BusRyda proper and the new Trip Planner have only 3 fields to select from before you submit. Then the results they return are no-frills, and easy to read.
More on the mobile service after the jump!
BusRyda seems to be Boston-specific at this time. Any plans to expand into other markets?
I intentionally left it vague in the beginning so that growth could happen. If other developers or another part is willing to help it grow, I'll listen. Right now it's just solving problems I have and that other people seem to also have with getting T information on the go.
You note that the service is best viewed on the iPhone. Will you be designing other versions for other phones? What impact will the Google Phone have on BusRyda?
I like to say it's optimized for the iPhone, but it by no means excludes other browsers.
The HTML rendered is grounded in web standards which inherently gives any site the widest possible audience. It looks great on other phones and smaller mobile displays, but you get rounded buttons on the iPhone.
Google's Android platform—the OS that sits on the G1 phone hardware and thus allowed it to appropriate the 'Google Phone' aura—has a pretty standards-compliant browser, so while I haven't been able to see it on there yet, there's no reason why it shouldn't function just as well as it does on the iPhone. If anything, that phone and other smart phones like the iPhones are looking like they'll be the new norm for cell phones within a few years, which means more people with great web browsers in their pockets who can start using BusRyda regularly.
Was the name/spelling inspired by the Ruff Ryders in any way?
Yes. DMX is my godfather.
... no, he isn't. No, it wasn't. It just gets people to ask questions about it and it is pretty catchy.
What do you view as your greatest competition? What sets you apart from them?
I was only turned on to Me2Bus recently. It's definitely a nice visualization of the MBTA bus schedules, and it is using a layout geared toward iPhones but also degrades to other mobile browsers, which is great of course. There is a lot of scrolling involved when you look at their list of bus schedules, which is a problem in my opinion and one that I feel BusRyda solves.
Also, since we've just implemented the Trip Planner—my girlfriend's idea, I must confess—the potential user-base of the service has just been blown wide open. If you've ever used the handy trip planner on the mbta.com, you'll find this version indispensable when you're on the go. I don't see how Trip Planner could be any better
What has been the hardest part of setting up BusRyda? The most rewarding?
Well, I'm not a PHP developer by trade but I know my way around basic object-oriented code. So there was some learning involved and I definitely had to use my brain a little more than usual. That's all I think I can say about that without giving away more than I'd like to.
The rewarding part has definitely been watching the positive reactions and the message spread. I google 'busryda' every day and the quantity of results has been going up exponentially. BusRyda is popping up in certain other Boston transportation related searches as well, already.
Also, watching the daily traffic over the last few weeks compared to the other contestants in The Web Challenge brings a smile to my face.
Has there been any backlash from the MBTA, wanting people to use its own mobile services?
So far, so good. It's not a problem until its a problem, right?
Stay tuned to see if Dan Grabauskas battles BusRyda in the conflict of MBTA services. At least BusRyda has DMX on its side.
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