Terms of Use

[St.Smith]

The school that I'm currently attending has a bus service to transport students from one side of campus to the other. While there is a schedule available for the bus, sometimes it deviates 10-20 minutes depending on weather conditions and other variables. Because of this, the organization in charge of the bus would like to create an application that would allow students to see the current location of the bus in real-time. The bus driver carries an iPhone on him during his shift. My initial thought was to use JQuery's geolocation feature in conjunction with a Gogle map that constantly refreshed. However, after taking a closer look at Google's terms of use for their maps, I found the following: 2. Restrictions on Use. Unless you have received prior written authorization from Google (or, as applicable, from the provider of particular Content), you must not:...(g) use the Service or Content with any products, systems, or applications for or in connection with (i) real time navigation or route guidance, including but not limited to turn-by-turn route guidance that is synchronized to the position of a user's sensor-enabled device; or (ii) any systems or functions for automatic or autonomous control of vehicle behavior. It is my understanding that I am restricted from using Google's maps in the format that I've described above. My first question is, can anybody think of a better way to create such an application? Secondly, Google doesn't allow real time navigation, but does anybody know of a company that does? Any help that you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[ShadowMage]

This might be splitting hairs, but what you're looking to do isn't technically navigation. Why don't you contact Google and see if you can get authorization? Email is free.

[Alluring]

I would echo ShadowMage's advice. Contact Google and lay out exactly what you plan to do because their policy might be geared towards stopping people from tracking others (government, private tracking companies, etc). If your client is a University or public school, you may have a good shot at getting a positive response.Only one way to find out though.