Routesy and the Freedom of Information

Routesy, a handy iPhone application for predicting arrival information for Muni buses and trains, is locked in a battle with NextBus Information Systems over the licensing of NextBus’ arrival predictions. NextBus is trying to assert that Routesy’s use of their data constitutes “commercial use” and is attempting to collect a licensing fee in return.

Since Routesy is a paid app, I can follow along with the “commercial” part of that argument. What I don’t understand is, how did the data in question become private to begin with?

As some background, NextBus tracks the position of each Muni transit vehicle and provides predictions to signs in bus shelters all over San Francisco, as well as NextBus’ own website. The data itself is collected by a device on each bus and train that monitors GPS position and speed. NextBus claims two patents on this technology, 6,006,159 and 6,374,176, and licenses numerous others from ArrivalStar.

So, sure, NextBus has invested some time, money, and energy in developing a predictive technology for municipal transit.

Here’s the catch: according to NextBus’ website, Muni pays for every facet of this service, from the tracking devices themselves to the shelter signs to the service itself. This then begs the question, who owns this data? NextBus would have you believe they do, since they’re using their patented technology to gather it and produce predictions.

That’s tantamount to paying a company to crunch a bunch of numbers using their patented method and having them assert they own the result. Simply ridiculous.

Edit: It turns out NextBus, the company that runs nextbus.com, is not the entity attempting to license data to Routesy. Instead, it’s a company called “NextBus Information Systems,” a two person shop that originally owned NextBus’ technology but sold it in 2004. Further detail is available in two great articles, one on SFAppeal, and the other on SFweekly.

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