Software engineer and J-Church rider Rolf Rando has a steampunk solution to his Muni woes.
"Living a hundred feet from the San Francisco (sic) MUNI ‘J’ line is a great convenience getting to work," writes Rando in a detailed DIY post on Medium, "but the train’s unpredictability led me to constantly check online to see when the next train would arrive."
Not content to consult his phone and eager to decorate a wall with something vintage, Rando purchased an old elevator indicator from New London, Connecticut on eBay. After a lot of soldering and coding, Rando hacked it into a very handsome NextBus clock, which Curbed and Muni Diaries have already celebrated:
Antique Metro Display from Rolf Rando on Vimeo.
Pressing the up or down elevator buttons changes the clock to indicate inbound versus outbound light rail trains. And this thing goes to 11: minutes that is, which might not be high enough for reliably tardy transportation. Using information from NextBus is itself a bit dodgy, as predictions aren't traffic based and ghost vehicles haunt the streets with their GPS off.
That said, Rando wants to be part of the solution and improve the system, at least aesthetically. "I'd love a commission to do another one for a home or public space," says Rondo, so reach out if you'd like your own.