Hey, there! Log in / Register
Who wants to build the first app to find food trucks in Boston and how to get to them by bike or T?
By adamg on Thu, 01/12/2012 - 12:17pm
The state Department of Transportation and the city of Boston today announced a competition for applications that let users navigate between the T and the Hubway bike system and find the location of the nearest food trucks.
State and city officials are hoping the real-time MBTA and Hubway data, coupled with information about food trucks, will lead to the same sorts of applications that emerged after a similar competition in 2009, then based just on data for certain bus routes.
Officials announced three categories of apps: One that highlights "the transit connections" between the T and Hubway rental stations, one that best visualizes "A day in the life of the MBTA and New Balance Hubway" and "Bikes, Lunch and T" to highlight city food trucks.
Apps can be submitted through Feb. 24. Developers of the winning apps will get a CharlieCard LinkPass and Hubway membership good for one year and two free passes to upcoming food-truck festivals.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
If only we had the technology...
Why if only we had the technology to place eateries in permanent locations so that patrons didn't have to use electronic devices to locate and navigate to said establishments in some sort of sick and twisted, stupid game of Pac Man Mealtime.
We could call them....restaurants? It'd be brilliant. You could do things like sit down, indoors. That's beneficial in a climate where half of the year you really don't want to be outside. We could have people serve the customers. On tables!
Or, maybe we could even invent the technology to allow food trucks to set up shop wherever they want, instead of People's Mobile Food Dispensary Zones, and demanding the comrades shift to a different zones each day under the watchful eye of zampolits.
We live in a city where you need a permit to have a TV in your establishment; why the city needs to know the location and size of each TV is bewildering. And heaven fucking forbid you want a guy quietly playing a violin in the corner of your restaurant - where is your entertainment license, comrade?
Developers of the winning apps will get a CharlieCard LinkPass and Hubway membership good for one year and two free passes to upcoming food-truck festivals.
Yeah, because I know I can sit down and crank out an "app" in the space of a few afternoons. And I can pay my bills with my Charliecard, and the Hubway membership is accepted at the local grocer! I'll keep the roof over my head and my tummy full with no problem.
oh man, how do you even leave
oh man, how do you even leave your house in the morning?
with a city-issued permit
...of course.
You just made my day :)
You just made my day :)
I'm In!
Grab your bikes! Let's go! Burn it off as you tour.
I think you are seriously on to something here ...
Pub crawl's younger sibling - the Chow chase?
This should definitely happen!
Hrm, sort of like an alleycat?
So, an alleycat race, where instead of signatures from dudes wearing shade glasses at 2 in the morning at random places, you have to *find* and then eat from, all the trucks on the list?
Brett, you're a crank
I too would like to see more intelligent rules regarding food services in Boston - I think most people would. But this contest by the T/Hubway has nothing to do with your tldr rant. You may make legitimate points sometimes, but the stench of self-righteousness from yet another typical snarky screed makes you difficult to take seriously.
As to your last 'point' (which at least tried to comment directly on the post's topic) the official rules explicitly state that developers retain rights to their apps - so although the prizes are modest, the real appeal is that the contestants of note get a free publicity campaign courtesy of the DoT/MBTA/Hubway. That's what makes this a win-win idea.
Kudos to whoever made this happen - crowd-sourcing tools to make city life more comfortable/enjoyable at little or no appreciable cost to the taxpayer. Well done.
DAMMIT
but the stench of self-righteousness from yet another typical snarky screed makes you difficult to take seriously.
Shit! My serious comments about "People's Mobile Food Dispensary Zones" and zampolits...foiled!
Awesome, made my day too.
Awesome, made my day too.
isn't the point of food
isn't the point of food trucks that they come to you? If I have to take public transit or bike to get to the food truck, it's defeating the purpose...
they could do it that way,
they could do it that way, just come to you, but then the rest of us would need an app to know where you are
Side Rant
[BeginSideRant]
Why does Hubway push a "yearly" membership for a service that shuts down from late Fall to early Spring because of snow potential? It's a slap in the face too that this may go down as least snowy year on record.
Also, any push this Spring to actually encourage people to use helmets?
[EndSideRant]
Thanks, mom
Funny how riders in Paris, Nice and Barcelona never seem to bitch about the "yearly" cost, which is still a nice little bargain even if you're too delicate to ride in the winter, nor about nanny's little helmet. Riders know the risk, but ride anyway, and that applies to both Hubway riders and regular riders in this town. Thankfully, the BPD is too busy fighting actual crime to hand out a ticket every time someone like you cries about something.
Fuckin' Boston, man...
Holy confusion, Batman!
You obviously completely misread my statements.
"Too delicate"? I want the Hubway to stay up all year long!
I have my own bike and helmet that I use year-round--I'm a hardy New Englander, sorry.
As far as helmet use, you have Boston Bikes, other bike groups and local police departments promoting bicycle safety and I'm just pointing out a glaring issue of irony--it's like renting ZipCars with no seatbelts.
Street Food Boston - an iPhone app for finding food trucks
I just finished up my Boston food truck app, which you can get from the App Store here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/street-food-boston/...
It's for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch for now. On Android, the mobile website has much of the same information: http://streetfoodapp.com/boston. I hope this turns out to be useful for food truck fans. Would love to know what you think...