Updated app tracks KC streetcars and recommends shops, restaurants at stops

Just in time for First Friday, the free StreetcarKC app has released an updated version that tracks the streetcars in real time.

The update allows a quick search for restaurants, shops, entertainment and other venues of interest along the 2.2 mile streetcar line. The app now also recommends such spots at each of the 10 stops.

Developers Michael Gelphman and Kevin Montanez launched the app earlier this summer with basic functions such as helping walkers and drivers locate and then reach the streetcar stop nearest to them. Users also could search for destinations near stops.

Gelphman runs the Disruption Institute, a coding school in Kansas City from which Montanez had graduated. Updating the app always had been part of the plan and now the features show up in a new user interface.

The app and its developers are not affiliated with the Kansas City Streetcar Authority.

This story was originally published August 5, 2016 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Updated app tracks KC streetcars and recommends shops, restaurants at stops."