Real-Time Display Guidelines

Destinations

A destination is the last stop riders can travel to on an MBTA route. A rider’s possible destinations depend on the stop where they begin their trip. For example, when a rider gets on the Red Line at Park Street, their destination might be a permanent terminal, like Alewife, Ashmont, or Braintree, or a temporary terminal during disrupted service.

To help riders use transit, destinations and relevant real-time messages appear on our website, mobile app, screens, and other touchpoints.

Real-Time Messages

To evaluate what real-time information to share with riders, follow these steps for each destination:

1. Alerts
2. Service Ended
3. First Trip
4. Boarding Status
5. Countdown
6. Headways and Schedules

Depending on how many characters fit on a screen, use a regular or compact version of a message.

For Commuter Rail, show the track number (platform_code in the V3 API; example call) next to the boarding status or countdown if it's available.

Alerts

If there are planned work, station, or service alerts, show them to riders. Prioritize showing the following alert types over other real-time messages:

• For all modes, service suspension and station/stop closure alerts
• For Bus, detour and snow route alerts

Next, evaluate if a service ended message should be shown.

Service Ended

If service has ended for the day, communicate that to riders. For example:

Otherwise, evaluate if a first trip message should be shown.

First Trip

Show the first scheduled departure_time (at terminals) or arrival_time if the current time is later than 3:30 AM, service has not yet started, and either:

• There are no predicted departures, or
• The mode is Subway (route type 0 or 1), and the current time is more than 40 minutes before the first scheduled departure at a given stop

For example:

In places that display departures for the rest of the day, show a list of countdowns below the first trip message.

If a first trip message does not apply, next evaluate if boarding status should be shown.

Boarding Status

Depending on a trip's boarding_status (see GTFS Realtime Trip Updates enhanced feed) and mode, show different information to riders:

• All Aboard
• Arriving
• Boarding
• Stopped X Stops Away

For Commuter Rail, include a track number (platform_code in the V3 API; example call).

All Aboard

When boarding status is "All aboard," show:

Arriving

When a vehicle is predicted to arrive within 30 seconds, show:

Boarding

When a vehicle is stopped at a mid-trip station for up to 90 seconds or is predicted to depart from a terminal within 90 seconds, show:

Stopped X Stops Away

When boarding status is "Stopped x stops away," show:

Next, evaluate if a countdown should be shown.

Countdown

If the next departure toward a destination can be predicted, show a countdown to the next departure_time (at terminals) or arrival_time. If a countdown is less than one hour, show minutes; if it is one hour or more, show hours and minutes. For example:

Headways and Schedules

For Subway only, if a countdown is not available, show headways that describe how often riders should expect a vehicle to arrive at a given stop. For example:

For other modes, show the next scheduled departure_time (at terminals) or arrival_time.

For a trip with schedule_relationship "CANCELED" or "SKIPPED" (see our GTFS Realtime Trip Updates enhanced feed), show a crossed-out scheduled stop time or hide the trip.

Developers

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