Auckland Transport’s own app is a fair representation of public transit UX in NZ: functional, uninspiring, and occasionally confusing when you most need it not to be. Standing on a platform in the rain, trying to work out if the train is late or just not showing up, should not require navigating three screens. Trains is an attempt at something better.
The Auckland Transport open API provides real-time departure data, stop information, and service alerts. The data is there — the problem is presentation. Trains focuses on what a commuter actually needs: what’s departing from my stop, in how many minutes, and is the service running normally. Everything else is secondary. The interface is built around the stop, not the route planner.
The project is early. The API integration is working and the core departure view is functional. What’s not there yet is the stop map, the alert system, and the mobile optimisation that makes it genuinely useful in the field. Next.js and Tailwind are the right tools for this — fast, responsive, and well-suited to a data-heavy real-time interface.