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wait - so you think that the map is made up of people who are all sitting on that website using the Find My Train demo? I think you are missing the point - wha
by AJRF 2mo ago
wait - so you think that the map is made up of people who are all sitting on that website using the Find My Train demo?
I think you are missing the point - what is collecting data on all those trains.
- Liquid_Fire 2mo agoNo, live train data in the UK is already publicly available, e.g. see https://www.opentraintimes.com/ https://www.opentraintimes.com/ This is matching your phone's location to the already public train data.
- AJRF 2mo ago> This is matching your phone's location But what is getting that?
- Liquid_Fire 2mo agoYou are giving it to them. That's why the demo asks for your location permission, and that's why the API expects location info. "You" here means another app that integrates their API (or you as an individual using the demo on their website). How the other app gets it is up to the other app - ideally it also just queries it directly and requires location permission.
- frnz 2mo agoso an empty train does not show up?
- Liquid_Fire 2mo agoNot sure how you came to that conclusion. An empty train would still exist in the live train data. It does not depend on mobile phones, but on rail signals and other such tracking built into the rail infrastructure.
- frnz 2mo agoof course, sry, I didn't read the descriptions. Thanks for clarification!
- Hikikomori 2mo agoDoes a train exist if you are not on it?
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- ascorbic 2mo agoThe location of the train comes from trackside sensors and is available as a free API. It doesn't give actual lat/lon – it only shows when it went past a particular checkpoint. The part that needs location permission is the one that works out which train you are on. It doesn't use that to produce the main map, it's just to work out which train you are likely to be on.