MBTA and Hubway: Help build a better city by making transit apps

The Patrick-Murray Administration in partnership with the City of Boston announced the MBTA & Boston Bikes Developers Challenge.

So start your engines app developers!

The challenge focuses on encouraging the development of apps that will help Boston residents use the MBTA and Hubway to travel through the Boston area with relative ease.

These apps will highlight the transit connections between both transportation systems while guiding them to the local food trucks for some nourishment.

The contest includes three challenge areas for software developers:

Applications Challenge: build a website, mobile app, or other software application using real-time data from the MBTA & New Balance Hubway that highlights the transit connections between the systems. Available data includes the MBTA’s real-time and scheduled bus, subway, and commuter rail data and New Balance Hubway Live Station Inventory Data.

Visualization Challenge: create a visualization of “A Day in the Life of the MBTA + New Balance Hubway” using MBTA historical bus location data and station inventory data from the New Balance Hubway.

The BLT (Bikes, Lunch & T) Challenge: create a website, mobile app or other software application applications to help residents and visitors learn about and get to Boston’s food trucks. Data available include information from the New Balance Hubway and the MBTA as well as information on the location and menus of Boston area food trucks.

The Challenge begins today, Jan. 12, and applications and visualizations may be submitted through 5pm on February 24th, according to MBTA officials.

What you will need to build:

MBTA real-time bus or trip planning applications and information are available at

http://www.mbta.com/rider_tools/apps/

The MassDOT Developers page with information and data links is available at www.mass.gov/massdot/developers

Information about Boston area food trucks can be accessed through www.newurbanmechanics.org/challenge/.