E-Ink Transit Info Display
I built this for my office after getting tired of checking three different apps just to see if I should grab a Citi Bike or run for the F train. It's a Raspberry Pi Zero WH and a 5.83" e-ink display mounted on the wall inside of a picture frame, quietly updating every few minutes with real-time Citi Bike dock status and subway departure times. The kind of tech I'd love to see more of, and in a world of loud bright screens, it's unobtrusive in a way that only e-ink can be.
Case Study
Challenge
A production company I do a lot of work for has an office in Brooklyn, next to a bikeshare dock and a 5 minute walk from the subway. Knowing which option made sense and when to leave was always a guessing game, or meant doing the transit equivalent of price comparisons. I wanted a subtle, unobtrusive screen that tells anyone at a glance: is there a bike available, and when is the next train?
Solution
A simple IoT system that pulls real-time data from the MTA and Citi Bike APIs, filters out all trains that someone leaving the office right then couldn't possibly catch, and displays everything on an e-ink screen that looks good in any light while not grabbing too much attention.
Results
For almost 3 years, it's been running without a hitch. This display just works. No maintenance, no fuss, and it's survived every API outage so far.
Implementation
The system is a set of Python scripts: one for fetching and filtering transit data, one for generating a custom PNG every 5 minutes, using a template I made in Illustrator featuring the company's mascot, and one for updating the e-ink display with the newest image. Since it's meant to run independently for a long time, every error is gracefully handled, it checks for new commits to the Github repo often, and if something goes very wrong, it pings me on Telegram.
Impact
A helpful tool for commuters, and a great conversation starter for anyone who visits the office. Plus I learned a lot about Raspberry Pis, generating images with Python, and the tall task of hardware projects!