Intro
Why?
To make a better experience than the offical version produced by the transit agency.
Get Started / Simple Status
What is with all this flashing?
At a glace to show any lines with any issues reported by the MTA. You can disable status flashing in the upper right when the menu is expanded.
How do I see the trains then?
Just click on your desired line! There you will have a god's view of trains for that line.
Line View
How do I get rid of these other trains on this single line view?
You can disable transfer trains in the upper right when the menu is expanded.
I don't see a station that I normally expect to see on this line!
The currently scheduled operations for your selected trains are not operating to that station currently. Please check service status or other lines to see if there is service operating to that station.
Why are some stations on my line an orange color or stations that this line does not normally stop at showing up?
There is a service change and trains are now stopping along a re-route. Please check service status for full details of the re-route. Stations may appear our of order when compared to the service pattern.
Station/Stop User View
I see all the trains for a line, can I just see the arrivals and departures for a single station?
Yes! On your desired train line, you can just select the station to see trains for that station only. You also get transfers!
Why do I see trains that don't normally stop at my station?
There is a service issues and that train line is now operating by this station. The train may or may not stop for passengers.
Station/Stop Display
I can see stops for a station, is there a mode just to use this on a display, to create a train departures board?
Yes! Just click on the station name one more time. You will load a special train departures board mode. This mode is hardened for constant use with no user interaction.
Does orientation matter for my train departures board?
No, by default the train departures board will try to auto-scale to fit your screen size regardless if it is horizontal or vertical
Can I add more stations to my train departures board?
Yes, just find the other stations codes of the additional stations you want to add, by going to line, then to the station. In the URL you will see station=SOME_VALUE. SOME_VALUE is the station code, combine them into a list, seperated by only semicolons(;), and replace the old station code with your station code list. (Warning - Using too many stations may cause your connection to be rate limited by our service, and may result in a block if you consume too many resources. Excess stations for a single line will result in data appearing incomplete; all the data is there, but until the single/same train stops at the earlier station, this train will not show for stops down the line.)
Can I disable status flashing in the footer??
Yes! On the top of THIS page press disable status flashing, then refresh your train departures board page. (must be in the same browser).
Can I add promotional messages to my train departures board?
Yes! You can add query string parameters to your URL to add messages (see examples and warning if you don't know what a query string is).
To add a message use message=YOUR_MESSAGE_TOP, where YOUR_MESSAGE_TOP is the message you want to place above the train departures board
[EXAMPLE: adding "&message=Hello%20New%20York%20City" to the URL to show "Hello New York City" in the URL, or you can first add "&message=", then type your custom message in the URL,
and have your browser figure out the translation. *Don't copy/paste the quotes(") themselves ] You can also chose to have you message (or a second message) below the train departures board
by using the query string messageBottom=YOUR_MESSAGE_BOTTOM, where YOUR_MESSAGE_BOTTOM is your custom message shown below the train departures board. [EXAMPLE: adding "&messageBottom=Have%20a%20great%20day" to the URL to show "Have a great day" in the URL, or you can first add "&messageBottom=", then type your custom message bottom in the URL,
and have your browser figure out the translation. *Don't copy/paste the quotes(") themselves ] (Warning - Please make sure you add query strings with &'s between the existing URL, and any additional strings, please make sure to watch your URLs to not drop any ending punctuation.)
This is an example with both a top and bottom custom message when looking at Times Square Station - https://dreamta24.jimjiang.com/d?station=MTASBWY:127&message=dreamtA%20makes%20transit%20great&messageBottom=In%20the%20greatest%20city%20on%20the%20planet!
Can I hide the station names?
Yes! You can supply the "hideStationNames=true" query string argument. You must have it exactly as shown. (can be combined with custom messages above) (Warning - Please make sure you add query strings with &'s between the existing URL, and any additional strings) This is an example with Times Square Station with hidden station names - https://dreamta24.jimjiang.com/d?station=MTASBWY:127&hideStationNames=true
Why is the page scrolling by itself?
When there is more data than your screen has room for, the screen will automatically scroll up and down to show all the info on a continous cycle.
The page is scrolling by itself, can I turn it off?
Yes! You can click/touch the page to stop automatically scrolling for a default time of 30 seconds, after which it will automatically re-enable auto-scrolling. To fully turn off auto-scrolling, add query string argument of "autoScrollRestart=0", which will never allow auto-scrolling to restart. If you supply a different positive integer value (instead of 0), the value will be used as the re-enable timer in ms. (Warning - Please make sure you add query strings with &'s between the existing URL, and any additional strings)
Why is my screen not auto-scrolling?
Your screen fits all the content on screen, so there is no need for auto-scrolling.
Data Accuracy
The train didn't arrive / is not actually running / there is a service change!
The MTA provides the data. This just just a different wrapping for it.
Why does the time jump all of sudden?
The timer is synced about 3 times a minute. The MTA data feed may choose to push out the estimated arrival time of trains, especially when under 30 seconds when a train is not close enough to the station, which will result in times jumping.
Why do the times stop updating?
Because you de-focused the screen. To save data, when the page is not in focus, the page will not sync, until you return focus to the page.
Other
Feedback?
Tell the developer jj!