Transit Departures Screensaver
The Transit Departures screensaver shows real upcoming MBTA departures from a Boston-area station on a split-flap board. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Transit Departures screensaver works
Pick a station and the saver reads live departure predictions from the MBTA's own key-less public API.
Each row shows the departure time, the line, the destination and how many minutes away it is.
Cancelled trips are dropped, and trains listed under several route patterns are shown only once.
It refreshes every 45 seconds, and the tiles riffle as departures update.
A worked example
At South Station the board shows a Red Line train to Park Street in 1 minute, a Providence commuter train departing now, and the next several Red Line trains behind them — the tiles clattering as each one moves up.
Settings & tips
- Station switches between ten Boston-area stations.
- Board width/height resize the tile grid.
- Flap click sound adds the mechanical clatter (off by default).
Frequently asked questions
- Are these real departures?
- Yes — live prediction data from the MBTA's own public v3 API, refreshed every 45 seconds.
- How is this different from the Rail Board?
- The Rail Board shows Swiss mainline trains. This shows a mixed North American urban network — subway, bus and commuter rail leaving the same station.
- Why did a duplicate train disappear?
- The MBTA lists one physical train under every route pattern that shares its track. The board shows each train once.
- Is a key needed?
- No. The MBTA v3 API is key-less for this kind of request.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.