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New iOS app shows NY subway arrival times

For the first time, New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has released an iOS app that shows train arrival times on seven subway lines.

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
Kent German
Now arriving... New York MTA

New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority finally joined the smartphone era today by releasing an iOS app showing train arrival times for seven subway lines.

Available for the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the iPad, MTA Subway Time will display train arrival times for 156 stations on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 lines, and the S shuttle line. Though officially in a test version for the time being, the app will use the same arrival times shown on station countdown clocks and on MTA's Web site.

"The ability to get subway arrival time at street level is here," MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota said in a statement. "The days of rushing to a subway station only to find yourself waiting motionless in a state of uncertainty are coming to an end."

According to the statement, the app can handle up to 5,000 incoming requests per second. The information comes from a feed that can be accessed by developers for other mobile operating systems.

Though the MTA has existing apps for bus arrivals and the drive times on its bridges and tunnels, this is the first time that the country's busiest transit agency has developed an app for subway service.

(Via AllThings D)