Hello, East Coast! Real-Time Tracking arrives in Sydney and Canberra

When Sunny and I first started building Anyways in Perth, the goal was simple: make a transit app that didn't feel like a chore to use. After expanding our tracking capabilities to Melbourne last month, we set our sights on the biggest challenge yet: the complex, multi-modal networks of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

Today, we are thrilled to announce that Anyways now supports real-time data for Sydney (Transport for NSW) and Canberra (Transport Canberra).

While we are still fine-tuning our journey planner for these regions, you can now access full timetables and live vehicle positions across both cities.

Taming the Sydney Network

Sydney is a beast. Unlike smaller networks, the ecosystem includes the Metro, an extensive train system, buses, light rail, and the iconic ferries.

Integrating Transport for NSW data was a massive milestone for our backend. The sheer volume of real-time vehicle positions in NSW is significantly higher than in other states. Thanks to our robust system architecture, we are able to ingest and process these heavy data streams in near real-time.

This means you can now see exactly where your ride is:

• Sydney Ferries: Watch the ferry cross the harbour in real-time.
• Sydney Metro: High-frequency updates for the expanding metro lines.
• Light Rail: Live tracking for the CBD and Inner West lines.

Connecting the Capital

Canberra is often overlooked in the transit app landscape, but we believe the capital deserves the same "aggressively simple" experience as the major metros.

Whether you are waiting for the Light Rail on Northbourne Avenue or checking a bus timetable in Belconnen, Anyways now gives you visibility across the Transport Canberra network.

One App for the Frequent Flyer

With this update, Anyways is becoming the perfect travel companion for the frequent interstate traveller.

If you live in Perth but fly to Sydney for business, or commute between Canberra and Sydney, you no longer need to switch apps just to check when the next train is coming. The same clean design you use at home works seamlessly when you land on the East Coast.

• No changing settings.
• No downloading new regional apps.
• Just open Anyways, and see what's around you.

What’s Under the Hood?

Adding these two major regions required us to scale our infrastructure significantly. We've tuned our servers to handle the increased geospatial query load and optimized our mobile and web front-ends to ensure the map remains buttery smooth, even when rendering hundreds of live vehicles in the Sydney CBD.

What's Next?

We are currently working hard to bring our full Journey Planning engine to the East Coast (including Melbourne).

Right now, you can view stops, check schedules, and track vehicles live. In a future update, we will be enabling the routing engine so you can plan trips across Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra just as easily as you do in Perth.

Support for Sydney and Canberra tracking is live right now on our web platform, as well as our Android and iOS apps!