Culver CityBus now on Google Transit

[mattapoisett]

Art Ida, Transportation Director [phone]
For Immediate Release June 10, 2011

CULVER CITYBUS TO PARTNER WITH GOOGLE TRANSIT

Planning a trip in and around Culver City just got a little easier. Culver CityBus, a service of the City of Culver City, recently partnered with Google Transit. Google Transit’s free information website integrates Culver CityBus’ routes, bus stops, and schedule information with surrounding transit agencies’ data to provide easy public transit trip planning. Now, when planning a trip from a computer or a smart phone, a rider will be able to create a transit plan involving Culver CityBus with greater ease.

Culver CityBus, California’s second oldest municipal transit service, is pleased to join many of Los Angeles area transit providers by parterning with Google Transit. Google Transit is a public transportation planning tool that combines the latest schedule data with the power of Google Maps to create a point-to-point itinerary for public transit patrons. “Many people are already familiar with Google Maps. We are thrilled to introduce the transit planning element of Google Maps to our customers to further enhance their transit experience,” said Micheál O' Leary, Mayor of the City of Culver City. Google Maps is available in over 40 different languages and is compatible with screen readers for the visually impaired. The Transit feature on Google Maps is available on selected mobile devices through Google Maps for mobile or through a mobile browser.
By simply entering a starting point, destination, and preferred travel time, Google Transit instantly displays a user friendly map beside a selection of transit route itineraries. For each itinerary, the free service displays door-to-door directions to the destination, including the walking or biking distance to and from the nearest bus stop. It also lists an estimated total travel time, transfer times, and other features to help surface the option of public transit over driving to riders.

In addition to Culver CityBus, other Los Angeles County transportation systems currently using Google Transit include: Metro, the Los Angeles DASH system, Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, Torrance Transit, Metrolink, Burbank Bus, Foothill Transit, Thousand Oaks Transit, Long Beach Transit, and Amtrak. For more information about how to access Google Transit on your computer or mobile phone, please visit: www.google.com or www.culvercitybus.com.

[bzcat]

Great news!

[Justin Walker]

"In addition to Culver CityBus, other Los Angeles County transportation systems currently using Google Transit include: Metro, the Los Angeles DASH system, Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, Torrance Transit, Metrolink, Burbank Bus, Foothill Transit, Thousand Oaks Transit, Long Beach Transit, and Amtrak."

Yes, great news to see Culver City Transit up. The press release does incorrectly indicate that the DASH is also on Google Transit, though...

[carter]

It's kind of funny how transit agencies leap-frog eachother on tech in different ways.

For example, Culver City has had stored value on TAP for a while, but weren't on Google Transit. Metro was the reverse.

Just get me some BBB real-time data and I'll be a happy transit rider.

[mattapoisett]

In my few of attempts to use google transit with the new data , it looks like Rapid 6 is not included. If you set up a trip during the morning or evening commute on a weekday, it will not give the option for Rapid 6 at the appropriate stops.

[ieko]

Actually, it's there -- it just isn't (unsurprisingly) labeled correctly. They've pulled the data from their internal system which doesn't distinguish between rapid 6 and local 6 except for blocks.

Also, it seems they've failed to mark all the stops internally too so the rapid isn't as likely to show up because it has less stops on Google as opposed to real life.

[wad]

I wonder why all transit agencies, when they get on Google Transit, must announce that they "partner" with Google.

They just enter a user license agreement. That doesn't make the agencies and Google partners any more than I am a partner for drawing my own maps.

[ieko]

Not all do this, but most do because it's good PR.

a) it reminds people that a transit agency exists
b) it looks like the agency is attempting to make it easier to use by providing data to the best mapping service on the planet.

As for the word "partner," it's the word Google uses, so.. most agencies lack a PR department -- they just copy/paste a prepared press release.

[bzcat]

Jun 11, 2011 20:35:13 GMT -8 carter said:

Just get me some BBB real-time data and I'll be a happy transit rider.

Major re-design of BBB website is coming in August. Real time bus arrival info will be part of the overhaul which will also finally include a mobile version of bigbluebus.com

[mattapoisett]

Jun 27, 2011 11:16:22 GMT -8 bzcat said:

Jun 11, 2011 20:35:13 GMT -8 carter said:

Just get me some BBB real-time data and I'll be a happy transit rider.

Major re-design of BBB website is coming in August. Real time bus arrival info will be part of the overhaul which will also finally include a mobile version of bigbluebus.com

Now if they would only implement TAP.

[wad]

Jun 27, 2011 10:03:08 GMT -8 ieko said:

As for the word "partner," it's the word Google uses, so.. most agencies lack a PR department -- they just copy/paste a prepared press release.

Oh ... it's journalism. ;D

It's also a case of insidious word inflation.

Another case of it, and you'll see this a lot for transit meetings, is the term "stakeholder." PR has decreed that any schmo who bothers to show up at a meeting now has a stake, or some tangible interest that rises or falls in response to a condition beyond its control.