Apps for Philly Transit - Hackathon

Apps for Who?

Apps for Philly Transit is a civic hackathon (http://www.codeforamerica.org/2013/06/07/defining-civic-hacking/) that aims to bring together transportation organizations and citizens of Philadelphia to rapidly conceive, design, and prototype uses of open data relating to transportation in Philly. Following the Apps for SEPTA 2011 (http://technical.ly/philly/2011/10/10/apps-for-septa-hackathon-features-new-data-sources-and-mass-transit-projects-video/) and Apps for SEPTA 2012 (http://technical.ly/philly/2012/08/21/apps-for-septa-vaguerouter-an-interactive-transit-planner-takes-first-place/) hackathons, we hope to bring new open data releases from a variety of transportation organizations to the table to be mixed and mashed with the trove of data and APIs already released by SEPTA (http://www3.septa.org/hackathon/).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDFhzNfd-bg

Who's it for?

Civic hackathons are for everyone. It is both a chance for beginners to get exposed to a new craft and for masters to try new things or apply theirs kills in new contexts. While programming and visual design are the most obviously valuable skills at a hackathon, it takes a little of everything to get an app or analysis from idea to a useful thing in the hands of the general citizenry. From lawyers to teachers, marketers to journalists, anyone with a passion to bring ideas to reality by jumping in and waiting for no one's permission can have fun and make an impact at a hackathon.

Transportation organizations are invited to send developers and experts who can support the use of transportation data and promote understanding of their domain.

What's the $10 get me?

Your $10 registration contribution reserves you a t-shirt and free meals/drinks for the duration of the hackathon. Our sponsors (http://appsforphilly.org/events/transit-2013#sponsors) cover most of the costs for the supplies, meals, and prizes you'll enjoy at the hackathon, and we only ask for a $10 contribution towards that to help us count on the number of reservations being close to the number of people who show up. You'll get a chance to let us know about your preferred t-shirt size and any dietary restrictions when you RSVP. We'll do our best to accommodate everyone but we can't guarantee that we'll be able to provide compatible alternatives for every meal.

Schedule

Friday 6:30pm-9pm - Idea Reception (https://www.meetup.com/Code-for-America-Philly/events/136607262/)

No registration is required for this Friday evening gathering of minds. Beer and sticky notes will be provided for sharing, adding to, and voting for ideas for projects that can be prototyped over the weekend hackathon. If you've got an idea or are just curious about civic hacking but can't hang out all weekend, this is the event for you. Hackathon participants should come to the reception too but if you can't make it -- no worries -- just show up for the start of the hackathon Saturday morning.

RSVP here for the idea reception. (https://www.meetup.com/Code-for-America-Philly/events/136607262/)

Saturday 10am-midnight - Hackathon

• 9am - Doors open with coffee and breakfast available

• 10am - Opening remarks and team formation kicked off

• 11am - You should be designing by now

• Midnight - Time to commit & quit. You can keep working from home but you can't stay at 3rd ward

Sunday 10am-5pm - Hackathon and Prototype Demos

• 9am - Doors open with coffee and berakfast available

• 10am - Opening remarks

• 4pm - Demos begin

Beyond the Prototype

On a date to be announced later (approximately 1 month following the hackathon) we will hold showcase session at SEPTA's center city HQ for demoing any new apps that are ready for the public. Participation in the hackathon will not be required as long as your project is free for public use or open source. Hackathon teams should take advantage of Code for Philly's weekly workshops to meet and continue work on their project to ready it for public release. Check out coverage of the showcase that followed the first Apps for SEPTA hackathon (http://technical.ly/philly/2011/11/21/septa-developer-showcase-puts-realtime-schedule-apps-on-display-for-transit-agency-officials/).

We're also hoping to see many transit apps at Technically Philly's end-of-year event: Civic Hacks of 2013 Demo Night (https://www.meetup.com/Technically-Philly/events/131501002/)