diff --git a/src/ControlPanel.jsx b/src/ControlPanel.jsx
index 98b0011..599aec0 100644
--- a/src/ControlPanel.jsx
+++ b/src/ControlPanel.jsx
@@ -4,71 +4,37 @@ import Toggle from 'react-toggle';
 import propTypes from 'prop-types';
 import Checkbox from './Checkbox';
 import muniRoutesGeoJson from './res/muniRoutes.geo.json';
-// import Map from './Map';
-
-const notAlpha = /[^a-zA-Z]/g;
-
-/*
-Sort by putting letters before numbers and treat number strings as integers.
-Calling Array.prototype.sort() without a compare function sorts elements as
-strings by Unicode code point order, e.g. [2, 12, 13, 9, 1, 27].sort() returns
-[1, 12, 13, 2, 27, 9]
-*/
-function sortAlphaNumeric(a, b) {
-  const aRoute = a.properties.name;
-  const bRoute = b.properties.name;
-  const aInteger = parseInt(aRoute, 10);
-  const bInteger = parseInt(bRoute, 10);
-  const aAlpha = aRoute.replace(notAlpha, '');
-  const bAlpha = bRoute.replace(notAlpha, '');
-
-  // special case for K/T and K-OWL
-  if (aRoute === 'K/T' && bRoute === 'K-OWL') return -1;
-  if (aRoute === 'K-OWL' && bRoute === 'K/T') return 1;
-
-  if (Number.isNaN(aInteger) && Number.isNaN(bInteger)) {
-    return aAlpha < bAlpha ? -1 : 1;
-  } else if (Number.isNaN(aInteger)) {
-    return -1;
-  } else if (Number.isNaN(bInteger)) {
-    return 1;
-  } else if (aInteger === bInteger) {
-    return aAlpha < bAlpha ? -1 : 1;
-  }
-  return aInteger - bInteger;
-}
-
+import { sortAlphaNumeric } from './Util';
 
 // make a copy of routes and sort
 const sortedRoutes = muniRoutesGeoJson.features.slice(0).sort(sortAlphaNumeric);
+const liveDataInterval = 15000;
 
 class ControlPanel extends Component {
   constructor() {
     super();
     this.state = {
       currentStateTime: new Date(Date.now()),
+      liveMap: false,
     };
   }
 
   setNewStateTime(newStateTime) {
     this.setState({ currentStateTime: newStateTime });
-    this.props.relay.refetch(
-      {
-        startTime: Number(newStateTime) - 15000,
-        endTime: Number(newStateTime),
-        agency: 'muni',
-      },
-      null,
-      (err) => {
-        if (err) {
-          console.warn(err);
-        }
-      },
-      { force: true },
-    );
+    this.props.fetchData(newStateTime, liveDataInterval);
+  }
+
+  handleLiveData() {
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      this.setNewStateTime(new Date());
+    }, liveDataInterval);
   }
 
   render() {
+    const { liveMap } = this.state;
+    if (liveMap) {
+      this.handleLiveData();
+    }
     return (
       <div className="control-panel">
         <div className="routes-header">
@@ -78,10 +44,17 @@ class ControlPanel extends Component {
             onChange={newTime => this.setNewStateTime(newTime)}
           />
         </div>
+        <div className=" routes-header liveMapContainer">
+          <h3>Live Mode</h3>
+          <Toggle
+            defaultChecked={this.state.liveMap}
+            onChange={() => this.setState({ liveMap: !liveMap })}
+          />
+        </div>
         <div className="routes-header stops-toggle">
           <h3>Stops</h3>
           <Toggle
-            defaultChecked
+            defaultChecked={this.state.showStops}
             onChange={() => this.props.toggleStops()}
           />
         </div>
@@ -104,9 +77,9 @@ class ControlPanel extends Component {
 }
 
 ControlPanel.propTypes = {
-  relay: propTypes.element.isRequired,
   filterRoutes: propTypes.element.isRequired,
   toggleStops: propTypes.element.isRequired,
+  fetchData: propTypes.element.isRequired,
 };
 
 export default ControlPanel;
diff --git a/src/Map.jsx b/src/Map.jsx
index d90d13c..6d1c3ba 100644
--- a/src/Map.jsx
+++ b/src/Map.jsx
@@ -171,6 +171,23 @@ class Map extends Component {
     this.setState({ showStops: !this.state.showStops });
   }
 
+  fetchData(newStateTime, liveDataInterval) {
+    this.props.relay.refetch(
+      {
+        startTime: Number(newStateTime) - liveDataInterval,
+        endTime: Number(newStateTime),
+        agency: 'muni',
+      },
+      null,
+      (err) => {
+        if (err) {
+          console.warn(err);
+        }
+      },
+      { force: true },
+    );
+  }
+
   renderMap() {
     const onViewportChange = viewport => this.setState({ viewport });
     const { trynState } = this.props.trynState || {};
@@ -243,7 +260,12 @@ class Map extends Component {
             {this.renderMap()}
           </div>
           <div className="col-sm-3 col-md-2 hidden-xs-down bg-faded sidebar">
-            <ControlPanel filterRoutes={this.filterRoutes} toggleStops={this.toggleStops} />
+            <ControlPanel
+              filterRoutes={this.filterRoutes}
+              toggleStops={this.toggleStops}
+              fetchData={(newStateTime, liveDataInterval) =>
+                this.fetchData(newStateTime, liveDataInterval)}
+            />
           </div>
         </div>
       </div>
@@ -256,6 +278,7 @@ Map.propTypes = {
     propTypes.string,
     propTypes.arrayOf(propTypes.object),
   ).isRequired,
+  relay: propTypes.element.isRequired,
 };
 
 export default createRefetchContainer(
diff --git a/src/Util.js b/src/Util.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a29008
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Util.js
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+* Stop class used to handle info about selected stops
+*/
+export class Stop {
+  constructor(stop) {
+    this.stop = stop;
+  }
+  isUndefined() {
+    return typeof this.stop === 'undefined';
+  }
+  setCoordinates(coordinates) {
+    this.stop = {
+      lon: coordinates[0],
+      lat: coordinates[1],
+    };
+  }
+  getCoordinateArray() {
+    return [this.stop.lon, this.stop.lat];
+  }
+  /**
+  * sees if two stops are equal by evaluating their coordinates
+  */
+  equals(stop) {
+    return this.stop.lon === stop.lon && this.stop.lat === stop.lat;
+  }
+}
+
+export function sortAlphaNumeric(a, b) {
+  const notAlpha = /[^a-zA-Z]/g;
+  const aRoute = a.properties.name;
+  const bRoute = b.properties.name;
+  const aInteger = parseInt(aRoute, 10);
+  const bInteger = parseInt(bRoute, 10);
+  const aAlpha = aRoute.replace(notAlpha, '');
+  const bAlpha = bRoute.replace(notAlpha, '');
+
+  // special case for K/T and K-OWL
+  if (aRoute === 'K/T' && bRoute === 'K-OWL') return -1;
+  if (aRoute === 'K-OWL' && bRoute === 'K/T') return 1;
+
+  if (Number.isNaN(aInteger) && Number.isNaN(bInteger)) {
+    return aAlpha < bAlpha ? -1 : 1;
+  } else if (Number.isNaN(aInteger)) {
+    return -1;
+  } else if (Number.isNaN(bInteger)) {
+    return 1;
+  } else if (aInteger === bInteger) {
+    return aAlpha < bAlpha ? -1 : 1;
+  }
+  return aInteger - bInteger;
+}