It was a thrill to have Governor Patrick announce my name as the winner of the MBTA developer challenge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4RxsUT7ZEQ

I created a clock-like display showing the arrival times of the next buses for the nearest bus stop

The newly confirmed head of the T presented me with $500 and a signed bus stop sign:
http://twitpic.com/1apebw

I felt a little self-conscience riding home on the T with it - I felt like I should be explaining to people giving me sideways glances that I really didn't steal it.

You can read how it works and why it is better than LED or video displays in my full entry:
http://groups.google.com/group/massdotdevelopers/msg/7cab0aebf1180d13

The photo of the winners was a uLocate reunion:
http://twitpic.com/1apjic

For the application part of the contest the winning entry was an iPhone app called Catch the bus. It was done by a team of current uLocate employees headed by Jared Egan. So all the winners are either current or former uLocate employees - we just can't get enough of openly available location data. I think Jared was also a little uncomfortable carrying the bus stop sign on the T:
http://twitpic.com/1aq9av

Why a clock face

Display of bus arrival time with a familiar clock face has numerous advantages over digital displays. Time to arrival is easily understood and can be read to the minute, yet a clock-hand indicator conveys an appropriate level of precision. Unlike digital signs which increase in cost with the square of the size, a clock face scales from room size to stadium readable size with relatively little increase in cost. The clock face is a format that advertising buyers are already familiar with and provides ample space for advertising.

How it works

The technology that makes this kind of connected sign possible for a very low cost is the availability of low-cost recycled cell phones commercially available from:
http://recellular.com
http://www.pacebutler.com/inventory.cfm
Cell phones that would work for this application are available in quantities of 1000's for less than $10 and data plans for these phones cost less than $5 per month.

You can see in this photo that a recycled cell provides the GPS and network connection.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gadgeteer/4445619377/
The hands are driven by commodity hobby servos controlled by a circuit connected to the phone's serial port. The total Bill of materials cost for this device is below $30