
Review my app: For you NYC Hackers/Subway Riders - bdotdub
http://www.exitstrategynyc.com/
======
bdotdub
Hi HN! My buddy and I just released an app in the App Store for all you NYC
Subway hackers.

If you like saving a few seconds to a few minutes on your subway rides, take a
peek at our app :)

We figured some of you here in NYC love little hacks to save time so we
thought we'd share and here your thoughts. I always love the discussion here
on HN so I'd love to hear some feedback if you have any!

~~~
Frocer
I used to live in NYC, and I have sent this to all of my NYC friends. Awesome
app!

For those of you who thinks this is stupid... trust me, New Yorkers value
every second of their commute. And exiting from the wrong end of the exit
could mean 5+ more min just to get out of the subway... considering the
hundreds of people exiting the subway at the same time.

Great job, great idea, great execution!

~~~
bdotdub
Wow thanks for the great words :)

The second paragraph really nails it. Thanks for summing it up so concisely!

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MicahWedemeyer
I live in Atlanta, where the subway system is much simpler (and shittier), but
this is exactly how I think when standing on the platform.

In short, the app is awesome.

Feature addition: Running ticker for total time saved, both for the current
user and all users overall. Make it as accurate or "imaginary" as you want. ;)

~~~
bdotdub
Ooh, good idea ;) Thanks for the tip!

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bryanwoods
This is fantastic! I sent this to some other friends here in NYC who have all
had the same response: "I always thought that would make a great app."

It hits the iPhone sweet spot of being a perfect blend of mostly fun and
somewhat useful.

 _Edit_ I just purchased the app. Really nice and slick. Though living off the
G (a cross-town line), it's hard to choose from only Uptown and Downtown
options. Otherwise, this is great.

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gnargeot
In Tokyo (and maybe other cities), this data is displayed in all the train and
metro stations. Also, there is data on which car to ride if you want to use
the escalator or elevator when you get out.

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lallysingh
I bought it, and I have to admit, I'm a little underwhelmed.

A basic subway map would have been useful.

For the extra points, a schedule would be wonderful.

~~~
teej
I think the singular focus is great. It has one goal - saving you time by
optimizing your car position.

If it saves me five minutes, it has already paid for itself.

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jrockway
FWIW, the Tokyo subway posts this data throughout the stations. I always
wondered why they don't do this in the US.

Edit: here's the best picture I can find:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/eloketh/320918361/sizes/l/>

It's that blue sign in the background/center. I will try and find a better
picture. But at least I know that I am not imagining this :)

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oliverkofoed
I really like the video presentation. Short and sweet while being entertaining
enough to watch.

~~~
allenbrunson
yes, the video is good. but it's in flash, which means it can't be viewed on a
real iphone.

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pieter
It's nice how you released it for a lot of different platforms. Would you mind
sharing the % of sales / platform once you have some sales?

~~~
bdotdub
Will do! I always enjoy "the numbers" type posts so I'd love to share when we
gather a bit more data

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akaalias
It's exactly what I always do, especially for fastest transfers and being the
first one on the stairs. Recently I have been taking the 6, L and G a lot,
terra incognito where your app comes in fitting perfectly. Love it!

Edit: Installed it, very smooth operation, took less than 6 seconds to find a
perfect exit strategy for L -> 6 train transfer. Nice!

~~~
bdotdub
Glad you like it! :) It's saved me a bunch of time already and I hope it does
for you too

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DannoHung
I only see one problem with this: During rush hour trains, choosing the
optimal exit location is a good way to not get on the train, because people
that take the same line every day know where to stand.

Maybe a "Overcrowding" mode that does the exact opposite and shows you where
the least crowded cars are likely to be?

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domodomo
Nice. This is application equivalent of a comedian "saying what everyone is
thinking". When I lived in Tokyo, I always tried to do these kinds of mental
calculations on the train on unfamiliar lines (already 100% optimized by daily
commute).

~~~
jimbokun
Yep, I've lived in both Manhattan and Tokyo, and one of my first thoughts is
that Tokyo is the other market that needs this. Is the code portable enough to
subcontract development of the Tokyo version to native Tokyo-ites? I'm sure
there are several other metro regions that would love this, too.

But I'm sure you will have your hands full just keeping up with the NYC
version, for now.

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cing
Nice! You should add data for other subway systems too. Here are the exit
locations for the TTC: <http://www.ttcrider.ca/download.php>

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bihi
That's just nice… I've had the same strategy, and obviously I know the station
exits of my commute perfectly… :)

But it makes it all the more annoying to go to some station I don't know, so I
think it's just awesome!

But as it is right now, I won't buy it. Simply because I'm talking about the
Parisian metro… So tell me, do you plan on supporting more subway systems in
the future? How do you plan to gather the data? Tell me if I can be of any
help.

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TrevorJ
Extending your idea to it's wildest reaches - could you make an app that used
the GPS data and date/time of day to build a statistical model of the best
street-level routes and optimum time of day between any given point in the
city?

It would take a really long time to aggregate enough data to make it useful,
but it would be pretty handy eventually.

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notirk
I haven't bought it yet, but I probably will for my work Blackberry. A
suggestion: mark where the elevators are for all the subways too. It would be
useful for disabled people and also anyone carrying heavy items or bags.
Hopefully you wrote down that information so you don't have to search all the
stops again!

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crux
This is magnificent. I haven't tried it out yet, so I'm obviously jumping the
gun—but that is exactly what I'm working through in my head every time I get
on and off the subway. N -> L is an easy one. I'll let you know what I think
but this is an app that's very much in line with my own obsessive concerns.

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jakewolf
I love the idea. Had it myself, but please please don't tell anyone about it.
Isn't it nice being the first one to the stairs? Let's keep the best exits to
ourselves.

Downloaded the sample on my kindle. It would be nice to see an actual map, if
only just one instead of a huge listing of all the stops.

~~~
bdotdub
Glad you like the idea! Hopefully we will get one in future versions. The MTA
has some weird licensing for all of their trademarks so we'll have to work it
out with them ;)

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danw
There is a similar app available for the London Underground at
<http://www.tubeexits.co.uk/>

The data is pretty good (only found a single sub-optimal station so far),
whilst the UI is fidgety at times but I'm sure it will improve.

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gchucky
Haha, that's great. Clever idea. Wish there was some kind of interface for
those of us without smartphones who just want to look stuff up online, but
that sort of defeats the point of having it as an app. Still, good idea.

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brown9-2
Interesting idea - if I were you I'd figure out how to extend the
software/engine behind this to support other cities before others become to
copy the idea.

(and if you're already working on this, then kudos!)

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fortes
I like the idea, although honestly not that useful for me given that the exits
I care about I already know.

You've got a decent start on an offline subway map though -- I'd pay for a
good one of those.

~~~
asnyder
MTA.info offers a downloadable PDF. Also, if I recall correctly from my
jailbroken iPhone days there was a very good offline NYC Subway Maps app.

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unohoo
awesome app - even though i dont live in nyc, i've visited nyc often & i can
definitely see how useful it could be to a daily commuter.

ohh - and you get double brownie points for the name 'exitstrategy' - gels so
well with what your app does..i bet nyt will come calling for a writeup soon -
so stay prepped :)

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kingkawn
isn't this the kind of thing that people who live in NY know just by virtue of
riding the train everyday?

~~~
skinnymuch
Ideally yes, but most new yorkers only go on a few lines regularly. I've only
been in the city for a month now, but going to lines that you've never gone to
before gets a bit confusing.

~~~
kingkawn
1 month isn't much for a system with 468 stations.

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DTrejo
Great demo video and music, fun to watch. A good example of how a demo should
look.

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sfphotoarts
love the video you guys put together. Im in SF so have little use for the app,
but I really like the ingenuity and looks like you've done a really job of the
pr side of things.

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karanbhangui
A very clever app. One of the best I've seen for iPhone :)

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zackola
This is great! I only wish I had thought of it first :)

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vaksel
Something like this would also work for airports.

~~~
jrockway
How? You don't get to pick which gate you arrive at.

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tommy_chheng
wow, great idea. I was in NYC the other weekend and this would have been
handy.

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raheemm
Awesome!

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vincent_vega
well. It certainly can "sHave minutes" from my trip... You may want to change
that typo on your homepage

~~~
philwelch
That's a colloquialism, not a typo.

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vincent_vega
3 questions: 1) wont this lead to everyone standing at the same positions?

2) isnt this useless at peak times ( exactly how often can you choose where to
stand)

3)isn't this simple enough to build it yourself rather than pay someone else
to do?

PS:i see that you and your sister are trying to build a business, rather than
making an interesting project. If so, your site looks rather amateuristic

~~~
bdotdub
Hey Vincent, thanks for the questions.

1\. If that becomes the case, we'll be rich ;)

2\. Do you mean because you're running to catch a train? Usually I find myself
pacing back and forth not knowing where to stand.

3\. The data for this app is not publicly available so my partner and his
sister had to run around the city to every station and mark down every exit
and stairwell. The whole process of checking, rechecking, and confirming took
them ~2 months

re: website. We hadn't planned on releasing this just yet but a major
newspaper had a blog post that ran early this morning so we had to hack this
together :) It'll get better in time!

