Commuter Outline of Vancouver
for reference: http://justagwailo.com/filter/2006/10/03/re-documenting
TransLink has unique identifiers for each stop, the number of which appears on each sign.
Coast Mountain Bus Company identifies each route with a number and a name, and each individual bus on that route with an alphanumeric (or just numeric) bus ID.
Check in to each stop when I arrive. This establishes a timestamp.
Foursquare has these stops cataloged
Check in to the individual bus. This establishes a timestamp.
Effectively check out of the individual bus by checking into the arrival stop.
If taking SkyTrain, check into the stop ID for the station. Check in to the individual car, each identified with a number.
Using the unoffical TransLink API, get GPS coordinates of the check-in and "check-out" stop IDs.
For all stops in between, get the GPS coordinates. (Cache the location of the stops, so that we don't have to use the API over and over for dozens of in-between stops.)
Make a route of that individual trip using Google Maps.
Alternatively, make a weighted light "map" like Vancouver Design Nerds.
Also alternatively, make a animated movie like http://www.aaronkoblin.com/work/flightpatterns/FPWeb_Final_2.mov http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPv8psZsvIU