We're offering Metroboard for $150 to reservation holders and $189 for all others who order it during launch. Later, the full price will be $229.
We're offering these steep discounts exclusively during launch as a way of saying thank you to our earliest supporters. If you're confident that you want a Metroboard, we recommend joining us now - this will be our lowest-ever price.
Metroboard connects to your WiFi network and pulls the latest train/bus location data from our servers. It then uses this data to light up the corresponding lights to indicate the location of all trains on the network.
Our servers receive updated location information directly from transit agencies in each city every few seconds.
Yes (and No).
Metroboard requires WiFi to pull the latest locations for trains and accurately reflect their live positions.
If you don’t have access to a WiFi network, Metroboard will revert to replaying a recording of your system taken from an arbitrary day in the past.
Metroboard has a USB-C port for power. It needs to be plugged in to power to display the data.
Alongside Metroboard, you will receive:
Transit agencies use trains outfitted with data transponders and equipment installed throughout their rail infrastructure to produce the location data.
We can’t vouch for the accuracy of all data, but it is coming straight from the horse’s mouth and there isn’t any better source. We have ridden many of these transit systems with Metroboard and have always seen the train we’re on accurately progressing on the map as we rode.
The frame of Metroboard is made from solid walnut, with miter joints at the corners. A miter joint joins two complementary wooden pieces with glue. By contrast, cheaper frames that don’t last use weak staples. Miter joints are meant to last.
The front and rear faces are made of brushed aluminum and include a layer of clear anodize to provide scratch resistance.
Four buttons on the rear allow customizing the following settings:
* The “color” option will use actual line colors for the system. The “white” option will use a warm-white for all lines.
** In-transit trains are shown with a light at the station they are in transit to. “Solid” will set this light to be fully on, just like in-station trains. “Pulsing” will have this light pulse slowly to indicate it is an in-transit train.
We will be including all stations, lines, and capital projects that open within the next five years of Metroboard’s initial launch date. If there are projects that open after that period, they won’t be included on the metroboards we currently offer.
Metroboard includes over-the-air (OTA) updating built-in. That means that it will always keep an eye out for software updates from us that may fix bugs, improve performance, or add features.
If there is an update, Metroboard will passively update it in the background and provide an indication that there’s new software ready. After that, you just need to turn it on and off to complete the update process.
The data used by transit agencies is generally stable and doesn’t change often, since thousands of services depend on it.
That said, it is likely that there will be minor updates. When these occur, some may have no impact on Metroboard, while others may cause a temporary outage while we update our server software to properly process the new data. We keep an eye out for these changes and do our best to resolve issues within 24 hours.
Our square metroboards (Boston, D.C., LA, and the Bay Area) are 11" x 11" and our rectangular metroboards (NYC, Chicago) are 11" x 16".
Both versions are 1" deep.
We will never charge a subscription of any kind. Once you purchase Metroboard, it's yours, and will work indefinitely.
Subscriptions to keep products you already paid for working stem from the greed of current-day companies and we won’t partake in it.
We intend to seed a fund that’ll pay for our server operation for decades to come. Even if DRC ceases operation, this fund will pay for the continued operation of Metroboards for 50+ years.
If needed, we will also open-source the relevant software, firmware, and transition to a community-run operation.
Either way, we are serious in ensuring that Metroboard will not become a paperweight in this century.
The LA Metroboard includes all Metro Rail lines, the D/A line extensions, K line extension (and planned re-alignment), as well as the G and J rapid-bus lines.
Data is received directly from LA Metro.
The Bay Area Metroboard includes all BART and Caltrain lines/stations. Although BART is the only “subway” in the Bay Area, Caltrain fills an essential role as the only rail service along the peninsula, and we consider it an essential service within the Bay.
We tried integrating Muni/VTA but found it challenging due to the difference in scale with BART/Caltrain. We expect to explore these in the future as standalone Metroboards.
BART does not publish live train location data (unlike most other systems). It does, however, publish arrival/departure estimates for each station. We use this information alongside interpolated transit times between stations to produce an educated “best guess” of train locations.
Caltrain does provide live location data which we use to accurately reflect positions.
The Chicago Metroboard includes all CTA subway and elevated lines, and will include the new green line Damen station.
Data is received directly from the CTA.
The Boston Metroboard includes all lines on the T, including the Mattapan trolley and the silver line bus.
Data is received directly from the MBTA.
The New York Metroboard includes all MTA subway lines and shuttles, as well as the Staten Island Railway (SIR).
Unlike the rest of our initial Metroboards, the NYC Metroboard only has one light per station (instead of two). This was done to keep the price affordable and maintain the same size as the Chicago Metroboard, but as a result, the NYC Metroboard will not let you see all of the trains at once.
We're planning to allow you to configure exactly what these lights show using a button on the rear. Your choices will be:
This will let you decide if you want to show all trains, which will act more as an art/statement piece, or a single direction (uptown/downtown) which can be more functional. In any setting, if there is more than one train for a given light (ex: a 2 train and Q train at Times Square/42nd St), a random one will be selected.
We did initially start with a 2-way NYC design, and we plan to bring it back in the future. If you’re interested in this variant, please stick around. Keep in mind, this version will be notably larger and more expensive than the current variant, since it will have double the lights and be meaningfully larger.
The D.C. Metroboard includes all D.C. Metro subway lines. It does not currently include the MDOT Purple Line, though we are considering this addition.
Data is received directly from WMATA.
We’re a 2-person team that quit our jobs to start DRC and make Metroboard. For the time being, we’re funneling our savings to bring it to life and share it with you. We could only make so many to start, but fully expect to add other cities in the future.
To start, we stayed within the US (we are US-based) and chose the highest-ridership systems in the country. We hope to get these off the ground and then revisit making versions for other systems in the US and expanding to international systems.
Philadelphia – The one exception is Philly, which we planned to include in this first launch as it is one of the largest US systems. Unfortunately, SEPTA doesn’t publish the data we need. We’ll keep an eye on this and revisit if that ever changes.
If we get Metroboard off the ground, we are interested in adding many more cities to the family. No city is off limits, but realistically, we will only be able to make Metroboards for cities where there is sufficient interest.
US cities we expect to explore include Atlanta, Miami, San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, Dallas, Denver, and Salt Lake City.
Highly requested cities we expect to explore include London, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Toronto, Madrid, Copenhagen, Berlin, Kyiv, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Osaka, Istanbul, Stockholm, Milan, and others.
If your city is not on this list, that doesn’t mean we won’t offer it - it just may take some time for us to get around to it.
The reservation is our way of connecting with the biggest fans of Metroboard and offering you some perks as a thank you for your support of us in our early days.
When you place a $3 reservation, you will receive all of the benefits outlined, which include:
The welcome letter is something we will send you right away, while the rest will be sent to you later (once you purchase metroboard and we make it)
No! Your reservation is a one-time purchase for you to lock in the $80 discount, limited edition souvenir, priority shipping, and all the other goodies.
You will not be charged when Metroboard launches. Once it does, we'll let you know, and you'll be free to decide if you still want to purchase it or not.
The reservation locks in your discount/perks, but you will not pick your city yet.
Instead, you will get to pick your city (or cities, if purchasing multiple Metroboards) later when you purchase metroboard during launch.
If you plan to purchase multiple Metroboards, you do NOT need more than one reservation. One is sufficient, and your $80 discount and perks will apply to as many Metroboards as you want to buy during launch.
The reservation is refundable until we send you your welcome letter. Your $3 goes into the materials to make this welcome letter, so once it ships, that $3 has been spent and there’s nothing we can refund. The letter is hand-made and not readily re-usable, so we cannot accept a return on it.
If you get in touch with us prior to us sending the letter, we can refund the reservation.
The reservation perks apply only to our inaugural launch of Metroboard for LA, the Bay, Chicago, NYC, DC, and Boston. We will have a 30-day launch window during which your reservation will be valid. The perks and discount will apply only during this window.
The shipping address you use when purchasing the reservation is strictly for the welcome letter that we will mail you. Please use an address that can accept first class mail and that you will have access to over the next two weeks.
When you later purchase metroboard, you will be able to select an appropriate shipping address prior to us shipping it to you.
Yes. We plan to offer Metroboard for everyone, including international customers. There will be a higher shipping fee to ship internationally - we don’t have an estimate of pricing yet, but we’ll be working hard to ensure it is reasonable.
Your reservation comes with a welcome mailer, which we will also ship to you internationally. Please be patient as international first-class mail can take 2-3 weeks to arrive after it has been shipped.
If you haven't received your welcome mailer within 2 weeks of the shipment notification, get in touch.
We'll confirm if your order had the right address and do our best to get a replacement mailer out to you.
We anticipate launching in September 2024, either on Kickstarter or our website.
Launch is our first time offering Metroboard for purchase. It’s our first attempt to get off the ground as a small design studio, and as a thank you to anybody who purchases during launch, there will be steep discounts from our full-price.
Launch will last for a 30-day window, after which we will produce everyone’s Metroboards and ship them to you. After we send the Metroboards to be manufactured, we will no longer accept orders; your next opportunity to purchase will be after we have delivered this initial batch.
Yes. Whether on Kickstarter or our website, the launch will be to pre-order Metroboard.
Why are we doing this? It’s pretty simple - we’re just two normal people who built something we thought was cool and want to share it with the world. We don’t have the hundreds of thousands of dollars lying around that we’d need to manufacture in advance and offer upfront.
Your support is the only way we can get off the ground. After this initial campaign, we hope to have enough raised to then start stocking Metroboard and delivering quickly. We’re offering the steep discount and launch perks in large part as a thank you for supporting us and bearing with us through an extended timeline.
As soon as our launch is over, we’re going to immediately have our factories start producing metroboards. In general, a mass production run for constituent parts usually takes approximately 6-8 weeks. Afterwards, they need to get assembled, packaged, and quality tested.
We’re hoping to begin delivering around March 2025.
Kickstarter is the first and oldest “crowdfunding” platform. It’s a platform for creators, artists, and small businesses to launch their products to the public. Usually, steep discounts or additional perks are provided as a thank you to supporters.
A Kickstarter “campaign” lasts 30 days, during which anyone can purchase the product. After it ends, the creator (in this case us) will use the funding raised to manufacture the products and then deliver them to backers.
We will either conduct or launch on Kickstarter or through our website - no final decision has been made.
Yes, we do! Our affiliate program is a way for us to credit you for any metroboard buyers you send our way!
You'll receive a unique link you can share, and will receive a 10% commission on any metroboard purchases that you refer.
If you're interested, you can apply at affiliates.designrules.co or send any questions to business@designrules.co
