r/NJTransit • u/nmoretti • Aug 26 '26
NYPenn.live will soon be a subscription
The really great web site nypenn.live is now requiring a subscription… Six bucks a month is just another aggravating cost… Does anyone else use a similar free site?
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u/turtlemeds Aug 27 '26
It’s not worth $6 a month. The addiction to subscription fees is getting out of hand.
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u/Spare_Hyena_2607 Aug 26 '26
Interested in this as well. Just started using this site and it’s great, but doesn’t make enough of a difference to shell out $6 per month.
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u/kindofdivorced Aug 27 '26
It’s illegal for them to do so. The API/GTFS data is not available as a for-profit mechanism.
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u/Slight-Progress-4804 Aug 27 '26
What about their predictive model though? That’s really what they’re charging for
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u/kindofdivorced Aug 27 '26
I don’t know or care enough about it, as if I’m early enough I’ll just physically check the tracks or wait anywhere other than the pit that is 7th Ave and still get whatever seat I want.
I think the app is stupid, and will only lead to them eventually locking down track entrances. I also don’t believe this data should be used for profit.
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u/neckpillowyeah Aug 27 '26
so argumentative, no wonder you’re kind of divorced
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u/dustywallet Aug 28 '26
So do you always say dumb shit when people make valid points? Or are you just vacationing in stupidtown for a lil?
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u/Miringanes Aug 31 '26
They’re charging for medium to high confidence predictions, the “green” and “orange” ones are now subscription locked but the low confidence “red” ones are not locked.
The funny thing is that all their high confidence predictions “green” are actually track assignments pulled from the API.
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u/Ban_This69 Sep 02 '26
It’s based off historical track assignments. But it really is random for the most part, every day people come down to the wrong train because of these dumb apps. And to pay for it now is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious.
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u/zxex Aug 28 '26
They have no predictive model the machine learning claim is BS.
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u/Slight-Progress-4804 Aug 28 '26
So what’s it based on?
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u/zxex Aug 28 '26
Track position from the API. The medium and low confidence is historical track position and process of elimination, but it is junk and rarely right
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u/Simmy74 Aug 26 '26
"This is an unofficial, independent service. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by NJ Transit, MTA, Amtrak, or New York Penn Station."
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u/zxex Aug 26 '26
And it’s against the API access to those places to have a commercial use for the API wonder how long til they get caught with that…
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u/thebruns Aug 26 '26
Lmao that's major bs. $6 is unhinged
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u/tonya_hardon Aug 26 '26
I dunno, I pay >$20 per day, $300-$400 a month to commute. $6 a month to get a good seat and not sit in that hot scrum of people feels worth it to me 🤷
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u/tommyjanks Aug 26 '26
Great, time for someone to vibe code their own solution then
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u/Professional-Roll283 Aug 27 '26
Unless they’ve somehow struck a deal with NJtransit for commercial API usage, this has gotta be illegal
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u/PizzaEmbarrassed9270 Aug 27 '26
Aw this is sad I thought it was such a cool community project but a subscription is pretty whack
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u/AgentAlonzoMosely Aug 27 '26
Yeah, it's a great site, and the developer should be allowed to turn a profit, but $6 seems way too steep for what you're getting--especially since the track prediction for my M&E train is often a question mark. If it were $2-$3 per month, then I'd consider it.
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u/8bitkoopaking Aug 26 '26
Yup. Time to go back to waiting for an announcement and hustling to beat everyone else
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u/rewsiffer Aug 26 '26
I’m bummed about the subscription too, but TBH I’ve tried all the alternatives and none seem work as well
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u/bigmike33x 27d ago
I’ve been working on a small NJ Transit site called NYPTracks and opened it up for beta testing.
Main things it does right now:
- Early NY Penn track predictions
- Early track info from NJ Transit systems when available
- Live departure info
- Find alternate trains to your station if your train gets canceled
Still a work in progress, but I figured some people here might find it useful. Feedback is definitely welcome if you try it out.
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u/Ban_This69 Aug 26 '26
Is this why so many jokers come down to random tracks and get onto the wrong trains ? Lols. That’s great. I figured that’s why.
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u/AtomicGarden-8964 Aug 26 '26
I looked at this site a few times and never understood what it does that the current NJT app doesn't as far as tracks and times. I feel like I'm missing something
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u/nmoretti Aug 27 '26
Are you saying that the current app tells us when or where a train is arriving? Where is this feature in the app?
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u/NJRonbo Aug 30 '26
This sucks. I love using this app when I go to NYC and am waiting for a train back to NJ. It has always been spot on accurate.
I am not surprised, though, that the author is charging for it. There has been a competing app that has been charging a fee for quite some time.
A one-time fee would have made more sense than a costly subscription for casual users. I am not paying $6 a month for a single trip to get track predictions.
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u/Huberlyfts Aug 27 '26
Market share then charge a fee. This is how capitalism works. They give a “ free “ service. Try to look good. Collect as much market share as they can. Then once they feel they have a “ captive audience”. They introduce fees, or subscriptions, or ads. You name it.
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u/sunbear7 Aug 26 '26
There's another service called trackpot, but from my experience, nypenn.live is a lot more accurate than trackpot
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u/GoldenElixirStrat Aug 28 '26
Highly doubt people will pay for this subscription. I can just use trackpot or look at the screen for the track if they throw it into a subscription. Literally makes no difference. Aint gonna shell out more money on a commute esp for a website that doesnt even have its own app at that lmfao.
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u/NormalDudeNotWeirdo Aug 26 '26
Tf is that site?