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Tunnel Rat
Navigate New York’s subway with realtime info and alerts.
Tunnel Rat is New York's underground expert—a fast, native, and private app for riding the subway, built specifically for those who rely on it every day. Totally free, no ads, and no tracking. Unlike other transit apps, the ambition is narrow: cover the NYC subway in depth—just this system, just this city. Realtime countdowns, live train tracking, summarized alerts, trip planning, reminders, precise entrances widgets, and more, each designed with care and precision.
Hey PH, I'm Ry! Designer, maker, etc. Most recently at Figma, but building some lil bits and bobs while I take a break.
Throughout my decade in NYC, I've been craving a subway app that works a bit more like how I think about it: instant access to the stuff I use daily, with everything else a tap away. And instead of trying to do everything, one that's focused exclusively on NYC. So... I built it.
Tunnel Rat's a native iOS app, built to be fast, free, reliable, private, and accessible from the ground up. Realtime arrivals, service alerts, live routing, trip reminders, and widgets, all around one idea: open it, get what you need, put your phone away before the train comes.
Still very much a work in progress, so if you ride, give it a try and tell me what's missing or broken. Drop me a line here, in the app's feedback flow, or at [email protected].
how does the live train tracking actually work under the ground, is it pulling from the MTA feed or something custom you built?
How are you handling the MTA's data feed reliability when the realtime updates lag or go down during service changes?
Focused only on NYC and it shows, the countdowns line up with what I see on the platform and the entrance widget is genuinely useful for finding the right stairwell on Bleecker. Nice that it's ad-free.
Cool idea! I love the New York subway - visited in 2016 and was impressed by how many stations there are across the city. It was January, and in the middle of our stay an ocean storm hit, so we ended up getting around on bicycles. It would have been great to know which stations were available in a situation like that! And the name has so much potential! "Tunnel Rat" immediately creates a character in my head. Someday it could be really fun to lean into that - animated elements on the site, maybe something with the underground world aesthetic.
The focus on doing one system really well instead of spreading thin is refreshing. Love that the precise entrances widget actually solves a real daily annoyance for anyone navigating midtown.
Finally gave it a spin on the 6 train this morning, and the live countdown matched what I saw on the platform to the second. The no-tracking promise actually feels genuine, which I appreciate more than I expected from a free app.
Since the app is totally free with no ads, how are you planning to keep the servers and development funded long term, especially if real-time MTA data costs start adding up?
finally an app that gets NYC and only NYC. love how clean the live tracking is, no clutter or weird upsells popping up between stops. the widget for station entrances is genuinely useful for late nights when you need the closest exit fast.
The singular focus on just the NYC subway shows real discipline, and the precise entrance widgets sound genuinely useful for daily riders who know how much a missed staircase can ruin your morning.
About Tunnel Rat on Product Hunt
“Navigate New York’s subway with realtime info and alerts. ”
Tunnel Rat was submitted on Product Hunt and earned 8 upvotes and 11 comments, placing #63 on the daily leaderboard. Tunnel Rat is New York's underground expert—a fast, native, and private app for riding the subway, built specifically for those who rely on it every day. Totally free, no ads, and no tracking. Unlike other transit apps, the ambition is narrow: cover the NYC subway in depth—just this system, just this city. Realtime countdowns, live train tracking, summarized alerts, trip planning, reminders, precise entrances widgets, and more, each designed with care and precision.
Tunnel Rat was featured in iOS (110.5k followers), Transportation (5.5k followers) and Maps (12.8k followers) on Product Hunt. Together, these topics include over 42.4k products, making this a competitive space to launch in.
Who hunted Tunnel Rat?
Tunnel Rat was hunted by ryan reid. A “hunter” on Product Hunt is the community member who submits a product to the platform — uploading the images, the link, and tagging the makers behind it. Hunters typically write the first comment explaining why a product is worth attention, and their followers are notified the moment they post. Around 79% of featured launches on Product Hunt are self-hunted by their makers, but a well-known hunter still acts as a signal of quality to the rest of the community. See the full all-time top hunters leaderboard to discover who is shaping the Product Hunt ecosystem.
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ryan reid