Chicago Bike Share Status and Columbus Bike Share Status

A skill for Amazon Alexa
https://www.amazon.com/Mark-of-Progress-Chicago-Status/dp/B01LZROIFI/
https://www.amazon.com/Mark-of-Progress-Columbus-Status/dp/B01N2WV0OO/

Overview

The Chicago Bike Share Status skill lets you check the status of stations in the Chicago Divvy bike sharing network, and the Columbus Bike Share Status skill does the same for the CoGo network in Columbus. Each skill has the same features and commands; the Chicago Bike Share Status skill will recognize street and station names in Chicago, IL, while the Columbus Bike Share Status skill will recognize street and station names in Columbus, OH.

You can request the number of bikes, docks, or both from any specific station. Use the station name, such as "Orleans Street and Elm Street" or "Adler Planetarium" to make the request. Station names are displayed at the stations themselves and on the Divvy or CoGo website. The names are generally either the nearest cross-street or a nearby significant landmark. If you only remember one street name, you can say "Alexa, ask Chicago bikeshare what stations are on Grand" (or whatever the street is) for a list of all stations on that street. (Or "Alexa, ask Columbus bikeshare what stations are on Rich Street", for example.)

To easily check the status of stations you use every day, the skills will let Alexa remember an origin and destination address. If you choose to store an address, Alexa will be able to give you the number of bikes available at the station closest to your origin and the number of docks at the station closest to your destination. If there's not many left, it will also check the next nearest station.

Ask Alexa to remember a new address with "Alexa, ask Chicago bikeshare to save an address", or change an existing address with "Alexa, ask Chicago bikeshare to change an address". You can also refer to your origin address as "home", and your destination as "work" or "school".

Once Alexa remembers your origin and destination addresses, all you need to do is to say "Alexa, ask Chicago bikeshare to check my commute", and you'll know if you need to use your backup station!

You can always check what address(es) you have stored with, e.g., "tell me which home address is saved". Remove all stored addresses by saying "remove my addresses".

This skill is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with either Divvy Bikes or CoGo Bike Share. For more information about Divvy, visit their website at http://www.divvybikes.com/. The official CoGo website is https://www.cogobikeshare.com/.

Things you can say

(Replace "Chicago" with "Columbus" for the CoGo network.)

• Alexa, ask Chicago Bikeshare how many bikes are at the Ashland Avenue and Grand Avenue station.
• Alexa, ask Chicago Bikeshare to check my commute.
• Alexa, ask Chicago Bikeshare to store an address.
• Alexa, ask Chicago Bikeshare to tell me what work address is set.
• Alexa, tell Chicago Bikeshare to remove my addresses.
• Alexa, ask Chicago Bikeshare what stations are on State Street.
• Alexa, ask Chicago Bikeshare the status of Fairbanks Court and Grand Avenue.
• Alexa, ask Chicago Bikeshare about Grand and Fairbanks.

Developer Notes

This skill reads bikeshare data in the General Bikeshare Feed Specification format.

This code is designed to run in an AWS Lambda function. You'll need to also include the requests module in the zip file sent to AWS.

The skill requires an additional config.py file in the "divvy" folder. This file should define the following attributes at global level:

• APP_ID : The unique ID of the Skill which uses the Lambda
• network_name : The name of the bike sharing network, e.g. "Divvy" or "CoGo"
• default_state : The two letter state code in which the network operates, e.g. "IL"
• default_city : The name of the city in which the network operates, e.g. "Chicago"
• time_zone : The local time zone, e.g. "US/Central" or "US/Eastern"
• sample_station : A valid station name for use in the help prompt
• bikes_api : Web address of the bike sharing network's API. As of January 2020, the Divvy network's API is https://gbfs.divvybikes.com/gbfs/gbfs.json, and the CoGo network's API is https://gbfs.cogobikeshare.com/gbfs/gbfs.json.
• maps_api : Web address of the Google Maps Geocoding API (used when users store addresses). As of January 2020, this is https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/.
• maps_api_key : Token which allows access to the Google Maps Geocoding API
• aws_region : Region in which you have your database
• db_type : Database backend for storing addresses. Either 's3' or 'dynamo'.
• user_table : If using DynamoDB, the table name which stores address data
• bucket_name : If using S3, the bucket name which stores address data
• key_prefix : If using S3, a prefix to keys holding address data

Developer Requirements

In addition to requirements listed in the requirements.txt, developers should also have the following packages installed

• pytest