I got all excited with the news of the Google Transit website, as reported on Ecogeek, and Autobloggreen. Here was another cool tool to help me optimize my local transportation. Imagine my disappointment when I did not see Caltrain on their list. Right now, with their current alternatives, it would take me 3hrs 39′ to get from Palo Alto to San Francisco, using my two feet, multiple buses and BART. I guess they are still in the process of building up the site! Still, check it out. There is a need for more simple Internet green tools like this.
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Too bad they don’t have Chicago yet, either…I’m sure it will be there soon though
Regarding Caltrain and other missing transit providers — it’s up to the transit agency to contact Google Transit and provide the data (the format of which is openly available). I contacted Santa Cruz Metro about this and they told me they’re working on Google Transit data and plan to have the project complete over the next six months. For Santa Cruz Metro, the labor intensive part is geocoding 1000+ bus stops.
Caltrain only has a handful of stations in comparison, but Caltrain is also not all that responsive to rider input. That’s probably partly because of the way Caltrain is governed and managed — it’s governed by the Peninsula Joint Powers Board; much of the back-end management is through San Mateo County SamTrans; and the rail, ticket and station operation is Amtrak.
Thanks both, for the input. I am learning a lot about the transit system! It also goes to show that Google, in this case is only as good as its willing transit partners.
I’m the lucky one
I live in Torino (Italy) and I can use this new function of Google Maps. It’s cool! Maybe the time of the trip is not so realistic (because of the traffic jams) but the information given about the line number and about the exact spot of the bus stops is very useful.
This says to me your bus system has got its act together . . . Here it’s the train system that’s not in Google Transit. With just the bus, it would take us hours to get from one place to another.