4 ms·

I wonder what will be their position on visualization, statistics and user contributed projects reusing their data. Their data feed is available [1], but in th

by kh_hk 13y ago

I wonder what will be their position on visualization, statistics and user contributed projects reusing their data. Their data feed is available [1], but in the terms of use [2], page 1, point 4 it says: 4. Proprietary Rights in Website Content; Limited License to Access and Use Website. All content that is on the Website or that is available through the Website or any of the Affiliated Websites, including all designs, text, graphics, pictures, video, information, applications, software, music, sound, and other files and their selection and arrangement (collectively, "Website Content"), is the exclusive proprietary property of Alta and its Related Parties, with all rights reserved by Alta and its Related Parties. [...] [1]: https://citibikenyc.com/stations/json https://citibikenyc.com/stations/json [2]: https://citibikenyc.com/assets/pdf/terms-of-use.pdf https://citibikenyc.com/assets/pdf/terms-of-use.pdf

potatolicious 13y ago
I take this to mean "don't use our logo, colors, etc etc", not "don't use our feed". Not to mention facts may not be copyrighted - so if you scrape the information (or just do it the nice way via JSON feed) you are free to present it so long as you don't run afoul of any actual copyrighted content.
- icebraining 13y ago
  Even if they can't copyright the facts, they can forbid you from using their service to get more if you use them for something they don't like.
peatmoss 13y ago
As a techie turned urban planner (starting a PhD in the fall!) I am constantly amazed by the level of interest in urban planning issues that the tech community has. Within the ranks of practicing planners, I feel there is the oldish guard, who maybe groks a little GIS, but otherwise doesn't understand the democratic potential of data and information systems. Then there is the new insurgency of people who are "wizards" who come to the field with a high level of sophistication about coding, visualization, and analytics. To some of the older guard, these people are intimidating, because the new guard believes intuitively in open access to data through useful APIs, and repeatable analyses that consume the same data that everyone else gets. Contrast that with the clickety-click Excel/ESRI paradigm that we're waking up from. Data is "public" but not accessible. Analyses are performed by an expert who you simply have to trust that they did things right, because all you have is a finished map. I love the new direction that's coming in planning. In my city, we have a happy confluence of relatively sophisticated planners, a big tech scene, a lots of ped/bike/transit advocates, but there is still a gulf between what The People want in terms of data services, and what the various transit, city, MPO agencies have capacity to provide. This pre-coffee ramble is a long winded way of saying, "keep fighting the good fight, and doing cool and interesting stuff with urban data."
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  How does one move into urban planning from being a techie? I ask only because I want to solve social issues with tech.
  - peatmoss 13y ago
    I did a masters degree. It was strange going back to school after being out in the working world for a number of years.
JoeKM 13y ago
Their API doesn't provide this right now, but what I'd really like to see is anonymous data regarding bike movement. (assuming the bikes have GPS, they are tracked no?) I'm curious about statistics like the most frequent bike routes people take, the longest rides, the density of bikes per location, etc.

by kh_hk 13y ago

potatolicious 13y ago

I take this to mean "don't use our logo, colors, etc etc", not "don't use our feed". Not to mention facts may not be copyrighted - so if you scrape the information (or just do it the nice way via JSON feed) you are free to present it so long as you don't run afoul of any actual copyrighted content.

icebraining 13y ago
Even if they can't copyright the facts, they can forbid you from using their service to get more if you use them for something they don't like.

peatmoss 13y ago

As a techie turned urban planner (starting a PhD in the fall!) I am constantly amazed by the level of interest in urban planning issues that the tech community has. Within the ranks of practicing planners, I feel there is the oldish guard, who maybe groks a little GIS, but otherwise doesn't understand the democratic potential of data and information systems. Then there is the new insurgency of people who are "wizards" who come to the field with a high level of sophistication about coding, visualization, and analytics. To some of the older guard, these people are intimidating, because the new guard believes intuitively in open access to data through useful APIs, and repeatable analyses that consume the same data that everyone else gets. Contrast that with the clickety-click Excel/ESRI paradigm that we're waking up from. Data is "public" but not accessible. Analyses are performed by an expert who you simply have to trust that they did things right, because all you have is a finished map. I love the new direction that's coming in planning. In my city, we have a happy confluence of relatively sophisticated planners, a big tech scene, a lots of ped/bike/transit advocates, but there is still a gulf between what The People want in terms of data services, and what the various transit, city, MPO agencies have capacity to provide. This pre-coffee ramble is a long winded way of saying, "keep fighting the good fight, and doing cool and interesting stuff with urban data."

toomuchtodo 13y ago
How does one move into urban planning from being a techie? I ask only because I want to solve social issues with tech.
- peatmoss 13y ago
  I did a masters degree. It was strange going back to school after being out in the working world for a number of years.

JoeKM 13y ago

Their API doesn't provide this right now, but what I'd really like to see is anonymous data regarding bike movement. (assuming the bikes have GPS, they are tracked no?) I'm curious about statistics like the most frequent bike routes people take, the longest rides, the density of bikes per location, etc.