DARTpal (an iPhone app for DART rail)

[marshall_law]

Hey guys :)

My iPhone app for DART rail ("DARTpal") was just accepted into the AppStore last week, and I wanted to let everyone know about it.

With DARTpal, you can:

Plan trips from one DART station to another, with automatic transfers
Find the nearest DART station to your current location
See upcoming departure times for any station
Keep track of fares, DART twitter updates, Customer Service numbers, and websites


For the next major release I plan on supporting TRE, with the full DART green line and DCTA coming as soon as they're operational. If there's any other features you'd like, definitely feel free to reply here or submit it in our forum (http://hot-tea.org/forums)

Some links:
Get DARTpal from the AppStore (itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dartpal/id370850740?mt=8)
HotTea Software / DARTpal website (forums/more info) (http://hot-tea.org)
@HotTeaSoft (twitter) (http://twitter.com/HotTeaSoft)

And here's some screenshots for good measure :)
Screenshot 1 (http://hot-tea.org/dartpal1.png)
Screenshot 2 (http://hot-tea.org/dartpal2.png)
Screenshot 3 (http://hot-tea.org/dartpal3.png)
Screenshot 4 (http://hot-tea.org/dartpal4.png)
Screenshot 5 (http://hot-tea.org/dartpal5.png)

Let me know what you think!

[ksig121]

Will there be an Android version as well?

[hamiltonpl]

That's awesome!! Good job!

[quietthings]

Looks great, what about bus routes?

[marshall_law]

Will there be an Android version as well?
Yup! The Android version will be coming soon :)

[marshall_law]

Looks great, what about bus routes?
I had a feature request to add DART Express Bus Routes, it's something I'm contemplating. The main reason I stayed away from bus routes originally was the shear amount of data required. Right now DARTpal includes all of the rail schedules with the app, which means you can use it even when there's no connectivity. There's a few compromises I could make to add bus schedules:

- Only add Express routes (since these are a minority, but would still be more useful than no routes at all)
- Add all bus routes, but make it dependent on a web connection (there is roughly 64MB of data if you include all bus schedules, which would makes the app really big)

Let me know what you think.

[msutton]

I think bus routes with a web connection would be the most helpful option.

[Columbus Civil]

Is there a feature to calculate budget deficits?

[mjblazin]

DART has a "where's my bus" beta that works fairly well. I use favorites for my regular routes and stops. Does it not work on the iPhone?

[aygriffith]

Is there a Blackberry version coming for us enterprise users?

[marshall_law]

Is there a Blackberry version coming for us enterprise users?
It's not outside the realm of possibility, but it may take a while to get there.. it really depends on the uptake from the iPhone/Android versions. Luckily, the app is written with Appcelerator Titanium (http://www.appcelerator.com) (Disclaimer: I'm a committer), and we're currently working on supporting Blackberry..

[Mballar]

What's the selling point for this app when the standard iPhone maps app gives this same information for DART's entire system, including buses?

[marshall_law]

What's the selling point for this app when the standard iPhone maps app gives this same information for DART's entire system, including buses?
:) Good question.

Google maps is great, and as you note it does have the advantage of already having bus routes. With that being said, Google Maps turned out to be pretty cumbersome for me in practice because of some problems:

It requires a network connection of some sort.. if you're at no or low bars, or trying to access the network during peek hours, finding the next departure time can be frustrating or impossible. DARTpal currently bundles the rail schedule with the app, so no connectivity is required (though some of the functions aren't useful without it, see the station map view and the twitter feed)
Going between stations requires manually typing each station name (or scrolling to each station on the map and adding to directions), DARTpal makes it easier to find stations by giving you a simple list to choose from (sorted by distance and/or line), and also annotates all stations directly on a map view (see this screenshot (http://hot-tea.org/dartpal3.png))
DARTpal also has other handy features, such as an integrated @DARTmedia twitter stream (station closings, delays, construction, etc), fares, and DART/TRE phone numbers and websites.
In future releases I also hope to add push notifications, bookmarked routes, and other features

[msutton]

Any plans for the TRE schedule and stations to be on there? I use it coming from the airport frequently... would be a big help

[marshall_law]

Any plans for the TRE schedule and stations to be on there? I use it coming from the airport frequently... would be a big help

Yup, TRE support is high on my priority list

[dfwcre8tive]

I downloaded it today to give it a try.