Metroboard connects to your WiFi network and pulls the latest train/bus location data from our servers. It then uses this data to light up the corresponding lights to indicate the location of all trains on the network.
Our servers receive updated location information directly from transit agencies in each city every few seconds.
Yes (with a caveat).
Metroboard requires WiFi to pull the latest locations for trains and accurately reflect their live positions.
For situations where you don't have WiFi but want Metroboard to still have a realistic display, we're hoping to introduce a software update that will allow reverting to a recording of the system taken from an arbitrary day in the past. This is not implemented yet, but we're planning on it!
Metroboard has a USB-C port for power. It needs to be plugged in to power to display the data. It uses a 15W USB-C power adapter.
Alongside Metroboard, you will receive:
Transit agencies use trains outfitted with data transponders and equipment installed throughout their rail infrastructure to produce the location data.
We can’t vouch for the accuracy of all data, but it is coming straight from the horse’s mouth and there isn’t any better source. We have ridden many of these transit systems with Metroboard and have always seen the train we’re on accurately progressing on the map as we rode.
Metroboard's frame is solid walnut and constructed with miter joints, made to last.
The front and rear faces are made of brushed aluminum and include a layer of clear anodization to provide scratch resistance.
Four buttons on the rear allow customizing the following settings:
* The “color” option will use actual line colors for the system. The “white” option will use a warm-white for all lines.
** In-transit trains are shown with a light at the station they are in transit to. “Solid” will set this light to be fully on, just like in-station trains. “Pulsing” will have this light pulse slowly to indicate it is an in-transit train.
We include all stations, lines, and capital projects that are slated open within the next five years of Metroboard’s initial launch date. If there are projects that open after that period, they won’t be included on the Metroboards we currently offer.
To see the future stations, lines, or projects included on a particular Metroboard, check out the FAQ section for your particular city.
Metroboard includes over-the-air (OTA) updating built-in. That means that it will always keep an eye out for software updates from us that may fix bugs, improve performance, or add features.
If there is an update, Metroboard will passively update it in the background and automatically restart for the update to take effect. You won't even notice! :-)
The data used by transit agencies is generally stable and doesn’t change often, since thousands of services depend on it.
That said, it is likely that there will be minor updates. When these occur, some may have no impact on Metroboard, while others may cause a temporary outage while we update our server software to properly process the new data. We keep an eye out for these changes and do our best to resolve issues within 24 hours.
Our square metroboards (Boston, D.C., LA, and the Bay Area) are 11" x 11" and our rectangular metroboards (NYC, Chicago) are 11" x 16".
Both versions are 1" deep.
We will never charge a subscription of any kind. Once you purchase Metroboard, it's yours, and will work indefinitely.
We are opposed to subscription fees that charge you for the continued use of a product you've already paid for, and we won't partake in this trend.
We seed a fund that’ll pay for our server operation for decades to come. Even if DRC ceases operation, this fund will pay for the continued operation of Metroboards for 50+ years.
If needed, we will also open-source the relevant software, firmware, and transition to a community-run operation.
Either way, we are serious in ensuring that Metroboard will not become a paperweight in this century.
The LA Metroboard includes all Metro Rail lines, the full D/A line extensions, K line extension (and planned re-alignment), as well as the G and J rapid-bus lines.
Data is received directly from LA Metro.
The Bay Area Metroboard includes all BART and Caltrain lines/stations. Although BART is the only “subway” in the Bay Area, Caltrain fills an essential role as the only rail service along the peninsula, and we consider it an essential service within the Bay.
We tried integrating Muni/VTA but found it challenging due to the difference in scale with BART/Caltrain. We expect to explore these in the future as standalone Metroboards.
BART does not publish live train location data (unlike most other systems). It does, however, publish arrival/departure estimates for each station. We use this information alongside interpolated transit times between stations to produce an educated “best guess” of train locations.
Caltrain does provide live location data which we use to accurately reflect positions.
The Bay Area board does not include the current BART Silicon Valley extension or The Portal since these projects are still far out. While we do our best to include future projects so that your Metroboard is not outdated, we avoid including projects that have a time horizon beyond 5 years or funding uncertainty to ensure that we don't make a map that is rendered misrepresentative.
The Chicago Metroboard includes all CTA subway and elevated lines. It includes the newly opened green line Damen station and the Red Line extension to 130th St.
Data is received directly from the CTA.
The Boston Metroboard includes all lines on the T, including the Mattapan trolley and the silver line bus.
Data is received directly from the MBTA.
The New York Metroboard includes all MTA subway lines and shuttles, as well as the Staten Island Railway (SIR).
Unlike the rest of our initial Metroboards, the NYC Metroboard only has one light per station (instead of two). This was done to keep the price affordable and maintain the same size as the Chicago Metroboard, but as a result, trains share a single LED when in the same station.
To help improve usability, the NYC Metroboard has a "Train Direction" button that allows configuring the display to:
This will let you decide if you want to show all trains, which will act more as an art/statement piece, or a single direction (uptown/downtown) which can be more functional. In any setting, if there is more than one train for a given light (ex: a 2 train and Q train at Times Square/42nd St), a random one will be selected.
We did initially start with a 2-way NYC design, and we plan to bring it back in the future. If you’re interested in this variant, please stick around. Keep in mind, this version will be notably larger and more expensive than the current variant, since it will have double the lights and be meaningfully larger.
The D.C. Metroboard includes all D.C. Metro subway lines and the soon-to-open MDOT Purple Line.
Data is received directly from WMATA.
To start, we stayed within the US (we are US-based) and chose the highest-ridership systems in the country. We hope to get these off the ground and then revisit making versions for other systems in the US and expanding to international systems.
Philadelphia – The one exception is Philly, which we planned to include in this first launch as it is one of the largest US systems. Unfortunately, SEPTA doesn’t publish the data we need. We’ll keep an eye on this and revisit if that ever changes.
We are interested in adding many more cities to the family. No city is off limits, but realistically, we will only be able to make Metroboards for cities where there is sufficient interest.
US cities we expect to explore include Atlanta, Miami, San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, Dallas, Denver, and Salt Lake City.
Highly requested cities we expect to explore include London, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Toronto, Madrid, Copenhagen, Berlin, Kyiv, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Osaka, Istanbul, Stockholm, Milan, and others.
If your city is not on this list, that doesn’t mean we won’t offer it - it just may take some time for us to get around to it.
You can pre-order Metroboard on BackerKit, our pre-order management service.
Orders are currently expected to ship end of October/early November.
Until we begin to ship in late October, we're offering Metroboard for a pre-order price of $209.
Starting in November, the discount will end and the price will increase to the full retail price of $249.
We're offering this discount as a way of saying thank you to our earliest supporters.
Pre-Order means that you can order Metroboard now, but it won't ship immediately. We are currently producing the Metroboards at our factory, and expect them to reach our warehouse and start to ship in late October/early November.
We share comprehensive bi-weekly updates on our Kickstarter page here to keep you up-to-date with the project and delivery status!
Once you pre-order Metroboard, you can sit tight. Once the Metroboards are on their way to our warehouse, you will receive an e-mail to confirm your address and select your shipping details.
Once they reach our fulfillment center, we will send them out to you. This is estimated to happen in late October/early November.
Shipping prices will be determined once Metroboards reach our warehouse and are ready to ship, in order to have the most accurate and best shipping rates.
However, our current estimates show that it should be $10-$15 to ship your Metroboard to anywhere in the domestic US. International order shipments range from $30-$60 depending on the country.
Yes. We plan to offer Metroboard for everyone, including international customers. There will be a higher shipping fee to ship internationally - our current best estimate is $30 - $60 depending on the destination country and your selected Metroboard.
You can order City Sounds, our transit/subway-inspired ambient album on vinyl through BackerKit, the same place you order Metroboard.
You can order our transit trading cards through BackerKit, the same place you order Metroboard.
You can visit here and enter your e-mail to look up your order at any time.
If you have any issues accessing your order, please e-mail us at hi@designrules.co
Our latest estimate is that Metroboard will begin to ship in late October/early November. If this changes due to production or freight delays, we'll be sure to let everyone know.
We publish highly in-depth bi-weekly updates on Kickstarter. You can check them out here.
If you've moved or changed addresses before Metroboard ships, don't worry. We don't ship anything until we receive a positive confirmation of your address.
There is nothing you need to do right now - once Metroboard is ready to ship, everyone will receive an e-mail and be required to confirm their address before anything ships. If you don't confirm it, we'll hold onto your Metroboard until you do. We won't send anything out without a confirmation.
Yes, we do! Our affiliate program is a way for us to credit you for any metroboard buyers you send our way!
You'll receive a unique link you can share, and will receive a 10% commission on any metroboard purchases that you refer.
If you're interested, you can apply at affiliates.designrules.co or send any questions to business@designrules.co
