Announcing GNV Transit, an alternative to the GNV RideRTS app

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It’s no secret that the RTS bus tracker… well, kinda sucks.

I have been developing an alternative bus tracker for RTS buses since May, and it’s finally ready to be used. There are still some features that I am looking to add in the near future, but it is completely functional and I would like to share it with other people and maybe even get some feedback for improvements along the way.

You can access the web app on your computer or on your phone at the webpage gnvtransit.app. It is completely desktop- AND mobile-friendly.

Here are a few of my criticisms of the original app, accessible at riderts.app, and maybe you can relate:

  • It is based on Google Maps, which includes the tracking and excess network usage inherent in Google Maps.
  • The app loads more than 2MB of JavaScript every time you open it up, which makes the app much slower to load.
  • Critical functionality (the map) is hidden behind a home screen instead of being immediately accessible.
  • You must click right on one of the tiny stop markers, or the map will zoom out and show you some sort of standard Google information for a landmark—maybe even selecting dozens of routes in the process.
  • The app randomly reloads the webpage and then you have to navigate to the map and select your stop all over again.
  • The app does not have any GPS functionality to quickly find your own location.
  • The app has an excess of “features” that I personally never use, such as the Trip Planner, Email Subscription, and the extra Stop Times interface.

All of the above points are pretty frustrating when you are running to catch a bus.

A few benefits that GNV Transit offers over RideRTS:

  • There is no data tracking within GNV Transit whatsoever - I do not track cookies, I do not track traffic on the web app, and I do not collect any user data, so there is no risk of your data being sold or used in ways that you don’t want it to be.
  • GNV Transit loads about 45KB of JavaScript. Nuff said.
  • The app opens on the map, so there is no more navigating through a home screen to get to the map if you are just trying to check your routes at a glance.
  • Routes are much easier to browse and select, and you can even double click/tap one route to deselect all of the others.
  • You can click near a stop and it will select the closest stop and zoom in to it.
  • There is a toggle button to center on your own location so you can easily locate the nearest stops.
  • The developer of this web app (me) is very receptive to feedback and happy to accommodate feedback and provide updates when needed/desired.

Please keep in mind that my app still pulls information from the RTS server, and I currently have a limit of 10,000 requests per day. This limit will run out pretty quickly if a ton of people start using it heavily. I am working on getting RTS/GRU to raise that limit. In the meantime, I apologize if you experience any downtime as a result.

Eventually, I plan to make the web app installable alongside your native apps via PWA (progressive web app) technology. I may even build proper native apps for iOS and Android one day.

Feel free to message me here if you have any comments or questions, and my contact information is available from within the app.