Interview with Andrew Wallace, creator of the iPhone app PDX Bus

If you have an iPhone and you need to see Portland public transit arrival times and schedules, the PDX Bus application is for you.  Simply put – it’s the slickest form of a “transit tracker” for TriMet on the iPhone.

I had the chance to ask Andrew Wallace – the PDX Bus developer – some questions about his iPhone app including if he has any plans for future apps.

Who are you? Name / blog / site / twitter? Do you live in Portland or are you just a Portland native?

I’m Andy Wallace – http://blog.teleportaloo.org and Twitter – http://twitter.com/Bobrew.  I live in the City of Portland itself. I’ve been here for 10 years and have ridden TriMet to work since I arrived.

Why did you decide to make this iPhone app?

(1) I wanted to have fun writing an iPhone app – I write software for a living, but this is completely different from the device-level software I write at work. Given that TriMet provides an interface for the data, I thought it would be fun to see if I could make it display better on the iPhone. Initially I assumed that someone else would have written one first, but I didn’t see one.

(2) I thought it would be nice to give something back to Portland, and so I made it free (which also made it feel less like work).

(3) I ride TriMet every day and often change my route if MAX is late or a bus didn’t come, so I needed an application like this.

How receptive was TriMet to your app?

Actually, I’ve had no human contact with TriMet at all. To get permission to use their data you fill out an on-line form and get an “Application Key”, then you are free to go. I was careful to read the terms and conditions (e.g. the “Route and arrival data provided by permission of TriMet” text is required, and you are not allowed to use their logos or trademarks, not even “Transit Tracker”). They make it very easy, with a small amount of documentation about the format of the data – it’s all on http://developer.trimet.org. (It is amazing that our local transit authority has a developer web site!).

Your most recent update included Streetcar times. What’s your plan for future updates?

Now that I have added location services, my next updates are simply to improve the bookmark feature, and remember the last page displayed. I may also work with other developers to add better maps and location features. Unfortunately, my laptop was recently stolen and I’m waiting for Apple’s new laptops to come out before I do any more work – I do have another copy of the source! (If anyone buys a used Mac Book Pro that has a copy of PDX Bus on it, then it is mine!).

How has the process been submitting your app to Apple?

Interesting! One update was rejected because a button didn’t do exactly what Apple’s user interface guidelines say (I was happy to get the feedback and fix it; but surprised by the detailed testing of every single page). It can take several days between the application being approved and it actually appearing in the iTunes store.

Any plans for future apps?

I had one idea for a colorful math toy, based on an application I wrote for the Pocket PC (it would also be free). I have started work on that, but PDX Bus took over! I’m trying to think of ideas for iPhone apps, but it is tricky to come up with interesting things that people haven’t already done, or don’t require a web site.

Do you have a place where users can give you a donation for the brilliant PDX Bus iPhone app?

I hadn’t thought of that! I may provide a “Donate” button in the future, but until then maybe donate to the zoo, and go there by bus!

Thanks to Andrew Wallace for answer some questions.  If you have an iPhone, what are you waiting for?!  Go download the app (links goes directly to the iTunes store)!