Tracker Map View Help - User Interface

Please e-mail tracker@kingcounty.gov if you have any questions or comments about this Tracker application.

• Initial View
• Map Display
• Menu Commands
• Using Tracker Map View
  • Selecting and bookmarking locations
  • Using the Bus Icon
  • Limiting the number of buses shown on the map
  • Monitoring route progress
  • Street identification

Initial View

The Tracker Map View applet opens to an initial view, by default a map of Downtown Seattle. The default can be changed as discussed in the maps section. Other features of this view include:

• Bus icons representing buses moving along routes.
• A time display that shows the last time the Tracker Map View applet received data.
• The show routes box, where you can specify which buses routes are displayed on the map.
• The monitor a route box, where you specify a route for more specific monitoring
• Menu items Window, Maps, Scale, Options where you further refine the application, and
• Help menu item, which leads to this page.

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Map Display

The map display plots buses on a street map. To change the area being shown either:

• press and hold down any of the four direction buttons (N,S,E,W) which border the map display, or
• click and drag the map with the mouse (best for small adjustments.

Please note that some delay may be experienced during navigation.

You can also jump to a completely new map area via the maps menu.

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Menu Commands

Window Menu

There are three options under the Window menu: New, Close, and Exit.

• "New" opens a new window identical to the current one, which you can then use independently of any others.
• "Close" closes the current window.
• "Exit" closes all open windows, thus exiting Tracker Map View.

Keyboard shortcuts are available for each of these options.

Maps Menu

The Maps menu is split into two sections. The top section is for selecting and bookmarking locations (maps). The second section lists currently bookmarked locations. Select a location from this list to display it.

The first time Tracker Map View is loaded, it includes the default set of bookmarks shown. As you add your own bookmarked locations the defaults may be replaced. The list of bookmarks is limited to a maximum of 16 locations. Tracker Map View starts displaying the first bookmark in this list.

Scale Menu

The two options let you choose either a one-mile view or a two-mile view.

Options Menu

Currently, only one option is available under this menu. This option toggles the vehicle identification number (VIN) on and off in the bus icon. The VIN is a number that is painted on the back and top of each bus.

Help Menu

Choosing "Tracker Map View Help" links to this web page.

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Using Tracker Map View

Selecting and bookmarking locations

In the main map display window, select the Maps menu command to manage bookmarks.

Select PreNamed Location: This option opens the Map Selection window: Choose a map category from the left-hand list and then further select from the corresponding set of named locations for that category in the right hand list. Click "OK" button to display a map centered on the chosen location. There are approximately 1200 pre-named locations available; note that these are not editable by the user, nor do they necessarily represent locations shown on timetables or other Metro materials or known to the Trip Planner.

Bookmark Current Location: Use this option to bookmark a location. First, navigate to a location you want to bookmark using one of the methods described in the Map Display section. Then select Bookmark Current Location and enter a name for the location. If you want the map display to open to this location automatically, check the "Make default location" box. Otherwise it is added to the end of the list of bookmarks. You can also rename a default bookmark this way.

Edit Bookmarked Locations: Use this command to rename a bookmark, to delete a bookmark, or to make a bookmark the default location.

More about Bookmarks and Cookies: Tracker uses cookies to save your bookmarked locations. For the bookmarking feature to work correctly, your browser must be set to accept cookies from the Tracker Map View web site. You can use Tracker without accepting cookies, but you will be unable to bookmark your own locations.

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Using the Bus Icon

These icons represent the buses and appear on all bus display types: map displays, bus progress displays, and route segment displays. The route number of the bus is shown on top and the latest time tracking data for the bus was received is shown at the bottom. (note - compare this time to the time in the upper right corner of the map display to see how fresh the information for the bus is.) If you've chosen to display the VIN, it appears between the route number and the time. A black arrow shows the direction the bus is travelling. It may not be displayed until fresh data for the bus arrives. The arrow doesn't appear in the route segment and bus progress displays.

If you want to see a bus icon that is hidden by others, click on it and select the "to front" option. You can also send it "to back."

Select "Route Schedule" to link to the timetable for that bus route.

Select "Bus Progress" to see a linear representation of that particular coach's progress, along with any other trips of the same route. See Route Progress for more information about using this feature.

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Limiting the number of routes shown on the map

By default, the map display shows all routes operating in the map area. You can select which bus routes to view by entering one or more bus route numbers, separated either by commas or spaces, in the "Buses To Display On Map" box and then checking the "Apply" box. Routes you did not list are removed from the display. The map may then contain no routes - there may be none of the ones you want to view in the area at the current time. To display all buses again, uncheck the "Apply" box. To change the list of displayed routes, add or delete route numbers in the Buses to Display field and click "Apply".

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Monitoring route progress

Tracker Map View lets you monitor the progress of a single route. You can also monitor the entire length of the route or just a portion. The features of the Route Progress display are similar in all cases. Route Progress display features:

• Window menu command - lets you open a new progress window exactly the same as the current one, close the current progress window, or quit the Tracker Map View application entirely.
• Link to route schedule - takes you to the Metro Online timetable for the route (only displayed if no bus icon is present along the progress bar.)
• Latest data arrival time - shows when the most recent update of tracking data arrived. Data packets arrive approximately every second. Packets do not contain information on every bus, however. Each bus's progress is updated approximately every minute rather than every second. Compare the time display to the time shown on the individual bus icon. The greater the disparity between the bus icon time and the last data arrival time, the less certain is the current bus icon position.
• Route progress bar - shows the starting and ending locations in text, and other locations as blue arrows above the bar. The bar represents a roadway. Buses move from left to right along the bar. Position the cursor over one of the blue arrows to display the location it represents.
• Bus icon - one or more bus icons may show below the roadway. The icon shows the last known position of a bus, and until updates are received, the icon is stationary. As a result, the buses appear to "hop" across the screen. Click on the bus icon to see the available options to move the icon to the front or back or to link to the Metro Online timetable.
• Alarms - you can set Tracker Map View to alert you when a bus passes a certain point on the progress bar. See details at Setting alarms below.

Monitoring a single bus: Click on the bus icon for the bus you want to monitor and select Bus Progress. This option shows the entire route of the bus you've chosen and icons for the bus and any others operating the same variation of the route.

Monitoring a portion of a bus route: Use the Route Progress entry field above the map display to monitor less than the full length of a route. Enter the bus route number you want to display and press enter to bring up the Route Progress dialog box (see image below).

In this dialogue box you select the route's direction of travel and set the starting location and ending location of the portion you want to monitor. Select the direction of travel based on the destinations shown at the top of the window. If you are not sure of the direction, check the timetable and its associated route map by clicking on the Route Schedule button at the lower right.

After you select a direction of travel, select a location for the starting point of the route you want to monitor from the left panel. The locations available for selection include the locations shown on the route timetable, but frequently include more locations. They do not represent all the stops for the route - just a selection of locations along its path.

Select a starting point location closest to but also BEFORE the stop where you want to catch the bus. Once you've chosen a starting point, the available destination locations are shown in the right panel. For your ending location. choose the one that is closest to but also AFTER your desired destination bus stop.

With two intersections selected, click the "Show Route" button. Tracker shows the progress bar with your starting location on the left and your ending destination on the right. Bus icons show the current location of trips of the bus route along the roadway. No icons are shown if no buses are currently travelling the segment of the route you selected. Multiple icons may show if more than one trip of the route is currently on the segment. Multiple progress bar windows are displayed if different variations of the route (such as a local and an express) are operating.

Setting Alarms: Set an alarm to receive notification when a bus reaches a specified point on its path. To set an alarm, click on the blue roadway bar in a route progress window.

Note:

• Set the alarm to the right of a visible bus icon to receive notification when it reaches the alarm point. Icons move left to right along the progress bar roadway.
• You can set only one alarm per progress window. If you click on the roadway a second time, the original alarm is removed an a new one is placed where you clicked.
• Open another progress window to set more than one alarm per bus. To open another window, use the Window: New menu option in a progress window.
• Click on a previously set alarm to remove it.
• You must leave the progress window open and continue to be connected to Tracker to receive the alarm.

Notification: When the bus has reached the alarm setting, you receive a notification window and an audible reminder (if your computer has sound capabilities.) After a notification is delivered the "Alarm Setting" in the progress window is set to "off" and the alarm will not go off again. Reset the alarm status to "on" to receive another notification for the same route, using the radio button in the lower left corner of the route progress window. You can't bookmark or save an alarm setting.

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Street Identification

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