Gautrain app developer access blocked

[Kevin Lancaster]

Gautrain app developer access blocked

The Gautrain Management Agency and AfriGIS have decided to block third parties from using the Gautrain bus position tracking feed

 

[koeksGHT]

Pity, they realize they suck.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

Did the API's carry some sort of agreement with Afrigis or did the developers just reverse-engineer it without Afrigis consent?

 

[entrepr]

The fundamental problem is the GT is run like a monopolistic government service and not a business

 

[j4ck455]

The crappy Gautrain buses added a minimum of 1 hour extra to my daily commute, and are the reason that I stopped using the Gautrain.

 

[Yuu]

Did the API's carry some sort of agreement with Afrigis or did the developers just reverse-engineer it without Afrigis consent?

/yip, reversed-engineered by few independent devs as said below...

 

[firefishy]

I have cracked the API: http://firefishy.com/tmp/bus/

 

[firefishy]

Reversed engineered

Did the API's carry some sort of agreement with Afrigis or did the developers just reverse-engineer it without Afrigis consent?

Reversed-engineered, a number of developers independently reverse engineered it.

Even Google Maps API was also once a "private" API until Adrian Holovaty reverse engineered it for his chicagocrime.org pressuring Google into make a public API.

I'm one of the developers that reverse engineered the Gautrain Bus position API. I was working on an app to show when the next bus is due at any particular bus stop, something the official app still cannot do over a year later.

 

[firefishy]

The crappy Gautrain buses added a minimum of 1 hour extra to my daily commute, and are the reason that I stopped using the Gautrain.

Sucks. An hour trip is a particularly slow route.

If only there was an app to accurately know when the next bus is due at any particularly bus stop. Instead of locking down the API AfriGIS should be spending the Gautrain billing hours building this feature!

 

[firefishy]

The fundamental problem is the GT is run like a monopolistic government service and not a business

Transport For London on which Gautrain Management Agency is based eventually saw the light and created really good public APIs: https://www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/open-data-users/

 

[Yuu]

I have cracked the API: http://firefishy.com/tmp/bus/

, what is next?

 

[koeksGHT]

, what is next?

SANRAL API

 

[firefishy]

, what is next?

Passively collect enough bus position information so that I can accurately create bus speed profile data, which can then be used to accurately predict when the next bus is due at any particular stop on any of the routes.

 

[cfilorux]

A commercial model: great new idea!

Some kind of commercial model ... hmm .. I wonder... wait! I have an idea! Guys guys! I know!

They should let people who use the bus pay for the trip! They could use their gautrain pass, and the fee for the trip could be deducted from their account. When people know that the bus is actually coming, they will be more inclined to use it! It's a great plan!

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

Well, I am just saying that if you have ever worked with Afrigis, it comes to no surprise to me, that they are closed the API and are not offering a public API. They should really learn from the likes of Garmin or Nike, what it means to have closed APIs and charge developers for it.

Hat off to firefishy - the local IT industry needs more forward-thinking people like you (without having to face the constant thread of being thrown into prison, because you want to improve mediocre government IT systems - which BTW, were built with our tax-money in the first place).