What does the Train Clock actually do?
It shows the next arrivals at the stops you choose — subway, NYC bus, or LIRR — on a small LED matrix that lives on your desk or shelf. Data refreshes every five seconds from the MTA's official GTFS-Realtime feeds — the same source the platform countdown clocks read.
Which transit systems are supported?
Three, covering most of how New York moves:
Subway — every line, all 373 stops, both directions. NYC buses — every route in the five boroughs; add your stop with the code printed on the bus-stop sign. LIRR — all branches, and departures show the posted track at terminals, so you know which stairs to take.
We've started looking at Metro-North, DC, Boston, and San Francisco for a future revision. If a system you care about isn't on the list, drop us a note.
How long does it take to set up?
About two minutes. Plug the board in. It comes up as a captive-portal WiFi network — connect your phone, enter your home WiFi credentials, pick your stations from the list. The board reboots, joins your network, and starts pulling arrivals. Selections persist across power cycles; you only do this once.
My WiFi is 5 GHz — will it connect?
The board joins 2.4 GHz WiFi networks — the band with the longest range through apartment walls, and the standard for small connected devices. Practically every home router broadcasts 2.4 GHz alongside 5 GHz, so it works out of the box. If you've explicitly turned the 2.4 GHz band off, re-enable it (or add a guest network on 2.4 GHz) in your router settings and the board will find it.
Do I need an MTA account, API key, or subscription?
No, none of the three. The board talks to our service, which reads the MTA's public real-time feeds — there's nothing to sign up for, and no monthly fee. Buy the board once and it's done.
Where do you ship?
Continental US first — free standard shipping, with a two-week build window from order. International shipping (Canada, EU, UK, Australia) opens after the first batch clears.
How do I check on my order or reservation?
Your confirmation email has your order number — reply to that email, or use the contact form (category "Shipping or returns") and we'll answer with the current status. We also email tracking the moment your board ships.
Reserved instead of buying? You're on the list, nothing has been charged, and we'll email a payment link when your batch is ready. Want off the list? Same channel — one message does it.
Do you charge sales tax?
The list price is $149. Any applicable sales tax is calculated and shown at checkout, before you confirm payment — no surprises after the fact.
How do updates work?
Over WiFi, automatically. The board checks for new firmware in the background. If something arrives, it gets verified, staged, and applied on the next quiet moment. If anything goes wrong, the board rolls back to the last working version on its own — you don't have to do anything.
Holding the UP+DOWN buttons at power-on for three seconds restores the original factory image, in case you ever need it.
What happens if the data feed is down?
The board keeps showing the last known arrivals with a "stale" indicator, and switches to "offline" after about half a minute without an update. As soon as the feed recovers, fresh times come back automatically.
How much power does it use?
About 3 W idle, 6 W typical, 12 W if every pixel is white at full brightness (which never happens in normal use). Cheaper to leave on for a year than a single LED bulb running an hour a day.
What if it breaks?
One-year hardware warranty — we'll repair or replace anything that fails on its own. 30-day no-questions return window if you decide it's not for you. If a firmware update bricks something we shipped (it shouldn't — auto-rollback is the whole point), that's on us regardless of how old the board is.
The written version lives at returns & warranty.
Are you affiliated with the MTA?
No. The MTA publishes its real-time feed publicly so anyone can build with it; this is one of the things people have built. The MTA logo, line bullets, and station names are property of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and used here only to identify the data source.
Why $149?
It covers the components, hand-assembly and testing of every board, packaging, free shipping, and a thin margin to fund the next batch and ongoing improvements. We're keeping it as simple as we can — one model, one price, free updates.