MTRO is a Next.js transit-tracking web app with a modern black/white UI, city filtering, and OpenStreetMap mapping.

Self-host (Next.js)

npm install
npm run build
npm start

Then open http://localhost:3000.

For local development:

npm run dev

Requires Node.js 22+ (for gtfs-realtime-bindings).

Private API keys

Store keys in environment variables instead of committing them:

• WMATA_API_KEYS (comma-separated) or WMATA_API_KEY
• WMATA_DEMO_API_KEY (optional override for the built-in WMATA demo-key fallback used when no WMATA key is provided)
• MOBILITY_DATABASE_ACCESS_TOKEN (preferred) or MOBILITY_DATABASE_REFRESH_TOKEN
• MOBILITY_DATABASE_API_BASE (optional override, defaults to https://api.mobilitydatabase.org)
• MOBILITY_DATABASE_MAX_ENDPOINTS (optional cap for discovered GTFS-RT feeds per Mobility Database source, default 25)

For local development, use .env.local (already git-ignored). For deployed environments, set these as platform secrets (for example, in Vercel/Cloudflare project settings) so only project admins can view/manage them.

Cloudflare deployment

• The app uses a same-origin Next.js API route at /api/trains.
• This route adds resilient fallback behavior for upstream train/station APIs and avoids browser CORS issues.
• Server-side in-memory caching and in-flight de-duplication reduce repeated upstream fetches when many users request the same city at once.
• functions/api/trains.js mirrors the same handler for Cloudflare Pages Functions, so /api/trains works with normal Cloudflare Pages deployments (without running npm run dev / npm run start on a server).
• You can still deploy with standard Next.js-on-Cloudflare workflows and keep self-hosting support via next start.

Features

• Defaults to New York City
• OpenStreetMap + live transit markers (train/bus/tram/other mode colors)
• Same-origin API proxy at /api/trains
• UTC and selected-city local time bar with timezone abbreviation
• In-session past-data snapshots for quick playback
• Language selector (English default + Spanish, French, German, Chinese)
• Fares popout panel (left-side drawer) with expanded coverage across North America and Europe
• Shared server-side city response caching to reduce duplicate upstream requests
• City scope focused on Washington, DC; New York City; Boston; Philadelphia; Bay Area; Seattle; Atlanta; Denver; Chicago; Milwaukee; Toronto; London; Amsterdam; Paris; Los Angeles; Berlin; and Madrid
• Multi-source API coverage for these cities including:
  • Mobility Database GTFS-RT feed discovery bundles per city (city official + regional official + regional community sources), including added bus-focused bundles
  • VRE GTFS-RT (Washington, DC area commuter rail)
  • WMATA TrainPositions + WMATA Rail GTFS-RT + WMATA Bus GTFS-RT + NextBus DC Circulator + NextBus Fairfax Connector (Washington, DC, with automatic demo-key fallback when no WMATA key is set)
  • MTA NYCT + MTA Bus + LIRR + Metro-North GTFS-RT + NextBus NYC MTA Bus (New York City)
  • Keyless D.C. regional alternatives via Mobility Database discovery + NextBus feeds
  • MBTA vehicles API (Boston)
  • MBTA GTFS-RT + NextBus MBTA (Boston)
  • Bay Area open-data mirror feed (BART station coverage; keyless fallback) (Bay Area)
  • Sound Transit GTFS-RT + fallbacks (Seattle)
  • MARTA GTFS-RT + fallbacks (Atlanta)
  • RTD GTFS-RT + alternate endpoint (Denver)
  • SEPTA TrainView + SEPTA GTFS-RT + NextBus SEPTA + bus-focused discovery (Philadelphia)
  • Chicago open-data mirror feed (keyless fallback) (Chicago)
  • MCTS GTFS-RT (Milwaukee)
  • TTC GTFS-RT + Mobility Database bundles + Amtraker + Transitous GTFS-RT (Toronto)
  • London open-data mirror feed (keyless fallback) (London)
  • Amsterdam open-data mirror feed (keyless fallback) (Amsterdam)
  • Paris open-data mirror feed (keyless fallback) (Paris)
  • Los Angeles open-data mirror feed (keyless source) (Los Angeles)
  • Berlin open-data mirror feed (keyless source) (Berlin)
  • Madrid open-data mirror feed (keyless source) (Madrid)
  • Amtraker US network
  • Transitous GTFS-RT fallback (rail + bus focused variants)