Hi r/transit,
I commute in Cologne and I'm building Snell on my own, a free web app for regional rail in North Rhine-Westphalia: https://getsnell.de/?von=reddit-transit (the interface is in German). It's my own project, so I'm posting it as a discussion and I'd value honest critique.
The idea: the people on the train know best where it is. Without live data, Snell shows a calculated position from the timetable and labels it that way. As soon as someone on board chooses to share their location, it becomes a live position for everyone waiting further down the line. Riders can also report delays, cancellations or crowded trains, and others confirm or dispute them with 👍 or 👎. It covers 224 lines, including regional trains, RRX, long-distance lines, FlixTrain and 12 Stadtbahn (light rail) lines in Cologne.
Privacy was a design goal from the start. There's no name and no account. Shared positions are deleted after 30 minutes and sharing stops after 3 hours at most. After 10 minutes without movement Snell asks if you're still on the train and stops 5 minutes later if there's no answer. On many lines sharing also ends by itself once you get off. No third-party trackers.
Honest limits: it's a web app, so it only shares while the screen is on (a trip mode keeps it on). A proper app that also shares in the background is in the works. It's only useful in NRW for now.
Something new: Snell goes open source this week. I'll add the link to the code in the comments once it's up, so anyone can check how the calculated positions work and what happens to shared locations.
I use AI as a tool while building. The idea, the decisions and the testing are mine.
What I'd like to hear from you:
- Can rider-shared positions fill gaps where official real-time data is thin, or is that wishful thinking?
- What would make you share your own location on a commute?
- Are there similar crowd-sourced projects elsewhere I should learn from?