Support Google Transit

Google Transit Adds Chicago

2008-04-09T22:42:00.000-05:00

Chicago is the latest addition to Google Transit.

Read the announcement here.

Thousand Oaks, CA added to Google Transit

2007-09-05T14:31:00.000-05:00

Google Transit expands yet again with the addition of Thousands Oaks Transit (TOT). Google Transit now supports 17 transit agencies in the U.S.

Read the announcement here.

Google Transit may be coming to New York and New Jersey soon

2007-08-30T14:03:00.000-05:00

Bloomberg is reporting that Google is working with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New Jersey Transit to add them to Google Transit.

Google May Start New York Transit Guide in Bid for Ad Sales

By Chris Dolmetsch and Ari Levy

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the most popular Internet search engine, provides online transit guides for more than a dozen U.S. cities including Dallas and San Diego. Now it may take on the biggest.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New Jersey Transit, which together carry more than 9 million people a day, are working with the company to give users one place to go for maps, schedules and trip planners. The agencies serve the five New York City boroughs and suburbs in New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester County and Long Island.

``We are always looking for ways to incorporate technology in what we do,'' Jim Redeker, assistant executive director of New Jersey Transit, said in a telephone interview from Newark. Google has ``good experience at making this work.''

...

Google doesn't disclose its local ad revenue, and Christoph Oehler, product manager for maps and transit, declined to say whether the company is negotiating with the New York and New Jersey agencies.

New Jersey Transit plans to share maps and schedules with Google as part of a pilot program to post more information aboutthe system on the Web, Redeker said. MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin confirmed the New York agency is also working with Google Transit. He declined to give specifics.

The metropolitan New York market would be the biggest and most complicated Google has tried to crack with its online guide. The New York MTA had 8.27 million daily riders as of Dec.31 and runs the city's subway and buses and the Long Island and Metro-North railroads, the busiest U.S. commuter railroads. The system has 468 subway stations, 35 fewer than in all other U.S.cities combined. New Jersey Transit, the largest statewide transit system in the U.S., carries about 857,000 passengers daily on buses, commuter trains and light-rail lines.

Bus ridership in Duluth, Minnesota, increased 12 percent since the Google system was added to its site last year, said Tom Elwell, marketing director for the local transit authority.

...

Some agencies, including New York's MTA and New Jersey Transit, have trip planners on their own Web sites, as does HopStop.com, a New York company started in 2004 that offers planners for cities including New York, Boston and Chicago. Travelers may be more inclined to get directions from Google because they already use its other mapping services, rather than trying to navigate local transit Web sites.

Google Transit Expands Again

2007-08-30T13:46:00.000-05:00

Google Transit has added three more transit systems bringing the total number to sixteen plus Japan. The new transit systems are in California, Nevada, and Texas:

Dallas, Texas - Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)

Humboldt County, CA - Humboldt Transit Authority

Las Vegas, NV - Las Vegas Monorail Company

The announcement was posted on Google Transit discussion board on Google Groups

Enhanced Transit Info Directly on Google Maps

2007-06-05T08:32:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year, Google added public transit stops directly on Google Maps. Google is now improving on that by adding more information about the stops. You can now click on the stop icon on the map and get information such as next departure times, what lines serve a specific station, and/or a link to the transit agency. The level of detail varies from city to city, but they are continually working to add more information.

Adding transit agencies to Google Transit needs the cooperation of the agency, but Google can make these enhancements to Google Maps using information from the transit agency web site and other information sources.

Two more cities added to Google Transit

2007-06-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

Google recently announced the addition of two more cities to Google Transit. You can now use Google Transit to get around San Diego and Reno using public transit.

Google Transit Goes to Japan

2007-04-28T14:13:00.000-05:00

Trip planning for Japan is now available on Google Transit. Google Transit has expanded to Asia by adding all regional and national rail networks, domestic airlines and ferries in Japan. In addition to Japan, there are ten transit systems in the United States available on Google Transit.

Please continue to contact your local transit agency to encourage them to submit their route data to Google Transit.

Getting Started with Google Transit (for transit agencies)

2007-04-05T21:29:00.000-05:00

This was posted on the Google Transit Google Group...

Getting Started with Google Transit
NOTE: the intended audience for this WebEx is transit agencies
interested in being part of the Google Transit Trip Planner.
April 10, 2007 11 - 12 PDT - http://tinyurl.com/2hopxg
April 11, 2007 10:30 - 11:30 - http://tinyurl.com/2afy8g
About the 1-hour Presentation:
Public Transportation and Google: answers to some of the most
frequently asked questions about Google Transit, and an overview of
how to get your agency's data onto the Google Transit Trip Planner.
In February, Tom Sly delivered similar presentations at APTA
TransITech in New Orleans, and at the APTA Marketing and
Communications workshop in Las Vegas. The purpose of this Webinar is to provide agencies with an update on a couple of exciting new developments with the Google Transit Program and to provide agencies with the opportunity to hear directly from two of our participating agencies.
About the Presenter:
Tom Sly is part of Google's New Business Development team, where he
is focused on supporting new products through strategic partnerships.
Panelists:
Bibiana McHugh: IT Manager of GIS & Location-Based Service, TriMET
(Portland, OR). Portland's TriMET was the first agency to "go-live"
with the Google Transit Trip Planner.
Denise DuCharme: Chief Information Officer, Capital Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (Auxtin, TX). Capital Metro is the latest
addition to the Google Transit family.

Public Transit Stops Available on Google Maps

2007-03-12T12:59:00.000-05:00

Google has recently added public transit stops to Google Maps. Now when you use Google Maps in major U.S. cities, public transit train stops are now marked directly on the map. This is a good intermediate step to having a full version of Google Transit for these cities. Google needs the cooperation of the transit agencies to set up Google Transit, but it is straightforward to simply add the stop locations to Google Maps.

So although you can't fully plan your trip with Google Transit, you can at least find the closest train stop to your destination.

I've confirmed train stops are marked for New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. What other cities have been updated?

Austin, TX latest addition to Google Transit

2007-03-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Google recently announced that Austin, Texas is the latest addition to Google Transit. You can now figure out how to get around Austin using Capital Metro. Google Transit now supports a total of ten metropolitan transit agencies.

Google Transit Adds Duluth, MN

2007-01-02T11:02:00.000-06:00

Google Transit recently added the Duluth Transit Authority. There are now nine transit systems available on Google Transit.

Please continue to contact your local transit agency to encourage them to submit their route data to Google Transit.

Google Transit Expands

2006-11-23T10:24:00.000-06:00

Google Transit has added two more transit systems bringing the total number to eight. Both of the new transit systems are in California: Burbank Bus and the Orange County Transportation Authority. You can now use Google Transit to get around in Burbank and Orange County, California; Eugene and Portland, Oregon; Tampa; Honolulu, Pittsburgh, and Seattle.

Google announced (sort of) the new additions on the Official Google Blog. Please continue to contact your local transit agency to encourage them to submit their route data to Google Transit.

Custom Public Transit Search Engine

2006-10-24T14:05:00.000-05:00

Google today announced a new customized search product which allows users to create specialized search engines. This allows me to add a new feature to this blog. You will now see a search box at the top of the page which customized to give you search results from public transit sites throughout the world. This should result in a better more focused search results. Hopefully, it's useful finding information about public transportation systems. Please give me feedback on how well it works! Happy searching!

United States Public Transit Systems Directory

2006-10-11T13:11:00.000-05:00

The American Public Transportation Association has a nice website with a directory of hundreds of public transit agencies throughout the United States. Clicking on a state brings you to a comprehensive list of transit agencies in that state along with links to their websites. It's a great way to find contact information for transit agencies.

American Public Transportation Association Public Transit Systems

HopStop: An Alternative to Google Transit

2006-10-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

HopStop is a service very similar to Google Transit. It's a good alternative to use for cities that Google doesn't cover yet. HopStop has subway and bus directions for five cities: New York, Boston, Washington, San Francisco, and Chicago. These are all cities that are not yet on Google Transit. They list five cities as "coming soon": Philadelphia, Atlanta, Maryland, New Jersey, and Long Island. (Interesting that two of these are actually states not cities.)

The core of the service is just like Google Transit. Enter a starting point and ending point and HopStop will give you directions using public transit. Like Google, you can enter a starting day and time. It gives you the option to use the bus system, train system, or a combination of both.

In addition to directions, HopStop also has a city guide which is a search engine for nearby attractions, bars & clubs, hotels, restaurants, and shopping. HopStop also allows users to rate the bus and train routes. Users can get a sense of the quality of various bus and subway lines.

The final major feature is HopStop Mobile. Registered users can get directions via SMS or via voice by calling a toll-free number.

Overall, HopStop seems like a good service if you live in a city it covers. It'll be interesting as HopStop and Google Transit expand to include more cities and gain more users.

How to Contact Chicago Transit Agencies

2006-10-04T08:26:00.000-05:00

Here is contact information for various Chicagoland public transit authorities:

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

Questions, comments or complaints about CTA's services.
Also to request Maps, Brochures, Schedules.
1-888-YOURCTA
(1-888-968-7282)

Email: ctahelp@transitchicago.com

Metra (Commuter train service)

Metra Passenger Services
547 W. Jackson
Chicago, IL 60661
(312) 322-6777 - Weekdays 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Pace (Suburban bus system)

Passenger Services
(847) 364-7223
passenger.services@pacebus.com

Regional Transportation Authority (RTA)

RTA Administrative Offices
175 W. Jackson Blvd, Suite 1550
Chicago, IL 60604
Weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(312) 913-3200

RTA Customer Service
175 W. Jackson Blvd, Suite 250
Chicago, IL 60604
Weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(312) 913-3110

communications@rtachicago.org

RTA Community Outreach
(312) 913-3144

Sample Letter

2006-09-30T18:37:00.000-05:00

As I said in my first post, I think I good way get more cities added to Google Transit is for local residents to call/email their local transit authority to encourage them to submit their bus/train schedules to Google. It seems like a small effort on their part for a great benefit to a lot of people. Here is an email I sent to the Chicago Transit Authority. Feel free to use this as a starting point for your own email.

Dear CTA,

I wanted to make you aware of an innovative new service that Google recently launched called Google Transit (http://www.google.com/transit). The service allows a person to enter a starting point and a destination, and the service will give the person exact directions with the best bus or train route to use along with an estimate of the time it will take and a map of the route. In addition, you can tell Google Transit when you are planning to make the trip and it will take into account the timing of bus and/or train schedules to give you an accurate estimate for the trip time. The service is currently available for six U.S. cities, and Google wants to make it more widespread.

I think it would be incredible beneficial for Chicagoans if the CTA were included. A big drawback to using the CTA now to go to an unfamiliar place is knowing exactly which bus or train to take and knowing how long it will take.

The service is completely free to users and free for transit systems to participate. They have set up a simple file specification that you can set up and quickly be included in Google Transit. Also, you can email them at labs-transit_content@google.com to get more information.

I strongly encourage you to submit your transit system information to Google. I think this would be a great help to current (and potential) riders of the CTA and would increase ridership. Google Transit is easy way to plan a trip using public transportation. This would provide numerous benefits to everyone involved. The increased revenue from riders would more than offset the small effort in submitting the bus and train schedules to Google.

Here are some useful links about Google Transit:

Google Transit - http://www.google.com/transit

Google Transit Info -
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/happy-trails-with-google-transit.html

Google Transit Feed Specification -
http://code.google.com/transit/spec/transit_feed_specification.htm

Google Transit email - labs-transit_content@google.com

Thank you for you help in making the CTA more useful to its riders. Please check out Google Transit and add your information to the service.

Sincerely,

Support Google Transit

2006-09-30T18:23:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my new blog dedicated to getting more cities added to Google Transit. Google Transit recently announced an expanded number of cities available on Google Transit. I think it is a great service, but one obvious drawback currently is that it is only available for six cities.

I think one way to get more cities added is for local residents push their local transit authorities to submit their information to Google.

That's where this blog comes in. I'd like to start a dialog about getting more cities added.