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Google Trip Planner comes to GO, TTC, BT

maxt797

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Could not find a thread on this topic here, just in case this has not been mentioned, I received this recently from the office of Adam Giambrone when I inquired about TTC transit planner on Google Transit:
Thank you for your email.
We have been in discussions with Google Transit representatives with regard to having TTC represented within their website. We hope to launch the TTC's trip planner as well as have the TTC on google transit in the near future. In the meantime, please feel free to contact 416-393-4636 and a TTC staffperson will be happy to help you plan your trip.
Yours truly,
Adam Giambrone
Toronto City Councillor
Ward 18 Davenport
Chair, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
 
Hopefully Google Transit will put in a regional trip planner. That would be truly helpful.
 
Google can't even figure out where some of the subway and RT stations are. (hint to google - look at the airphotos on one of those nifty websites that have airphotos - you can see the stations - heck for one station, you can even see the train parked in it - about 400 metres from where the station symbol is shown).

If they can't even locate the stations, how are they going to locate bus stops and routes!
 
Google can't even figure out where some of the subway and RT stations are. (hint to google - look at the airphotos on one of those nifty websites that have airphotos - you can see the stations - heck for one station, you can even see the train parked in it - about 400 metres from where the station symbol is shown).

If they can't even locate the stations, how are they going to locate bus stops and routes!


I doubt Google does any figuring at all. They must ask the TTC for the address or obtain it from a third party (who would also get it from the TTC).

If they got it from the TTC, it was probably from the same genius who wrote the many laughably inaccurate addresses on the subway maps
 
Milton Transit is now working with Google Transit and Metrolinx on implementing Google Transit for Milton's massive transit network...
 
LOL ... why not sketch it on the back of napkin and mail it out to all the residents ... it can have every possible combination / destination Everyone get's their very own mini trip planner.
 
lol ... you're not telling me that was a "quick win" ... If that's the day we might as well call it a day and head home, no hope metrolinks whatsoever : - )
 
lol ... you're not telling me that was a "quick win" ... If that's the day we might as well call it a day and head home, no hope metrolinks whatsoever : - )
Still makes it easier for first time residents and people coming from outside the city to figure their way around. "Costumer Service" might be an oxymoron for the TTC, but some agencies actually see it as having some value, even if their service might not be lacking.
 
Star

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/535279

TTC riding made easy with iPhone application

48ef33dd41d3a0a2a5744d0c6483.jpeg


Tess Kalinowski
Transportation Reporter

First there was myTTC.ca, the unofficial transit trip planner that elicited cheers among transit watchers in the blogosphere by pre-empting the TTC's own version.

Now Toronto's community of subversive transit-riding computer programmers has combined myTTC's trip-planning data with the portability of the trendiest technology around: the iPhone and iPod Touch. Called Red Rocket, the new application puts TTC route maps and schedules in the palm of a gadget-loving rider's hand, with the benefit of GPS capability.

It doesn't offer real-time information on where the TTC's vehicles are. But the schedule and route data from myTTC.ca is embedded in Red Rocket, and its creators – Hilary Street and George Talusan – say it's a more accurate portrayal of when buses and streetcars actually depart.

And it's been drawing similarly positive reviews online as the myTTC site, designed by another precocious programming duo, Kieran Huggins and Kevin Branigan, which lets visitors type in a departure point and destination intersection to find a suitable transit route and estimated travel time.

The Red Rocket application is the latest in a line of unofficial merchandise and transit technology to hit the street as the TTC works at developing its own offerings. "The software can help you do a number of things, but primarily it can tell you when a TTC vehicle is scheduled to depart. So if you're waiting for the streetcar, you can glance at your iPhone and find out when the next one is due to leave," said Street, a freelance web designer.

One of the biggest benefits of Red Rocket, which can be downloaded for a toonie, is its GPS capability.

"Users can tap a button and immediately find out where the closest stops are to them. If you're already at a stop, you can quickly figure out what the times are for the stop you're standing at," he said.

It works better on an iPhone than an iPod touch, which requires WiFi access. But iPod touch users can still search for stops by typing in the street name or route number.

Google Maps is integrated into the application, so the user can hit one button to drop a series of pins on a map, then zoom into a particular stop and find out how to get there.

The application still has some bugs, Street admits. A few icons don't work properly and there are glitches where times are being displayed in large numbers.

"We wanted to make an application that had a wide appeal to people. The TTC was a natural choice for that," he said.

An earlier iPhone application, called iTTC, by another software developer doesn't have the GPS capabilities or the myTTC.ca data of Red Rocket.

"You don't need an expensive cellular data plan or Internet connectivity to get scheduling information," says Talusan.

TTC officials don't mind tech-savvy riders getting a jump on their plans. A trip planner using the TTC's own data will be available in July and a next-vehicle arrival system will be tested on the Harbourfront streetcar line starting later this month, said spokesperson Brad Ross.

"If others wish to help make the TTC experience a better one," Ross said, "we support it 100 per cent."
 
Bah. Cool, but for the price Rogers wants just to have the access to it, I don't think so. Shawn Micallef et al can go on all day about how nifty it is, but if they don't have real time, I'll do without it as most routes are frequent enough at most times I need them anyway.

No offense to Shawn Micallef, of course.
 
The TTC should buy out the people who made this app and offer it free. And then I'd download it. I pay $30 a month for data, but I'm not willing to shell out $1.99 for an app I may not use.
 
Star

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/535279

TTC riding made easy with iPhone application

48ef33dd41d3a0a2a5744d0c6483.jpeg


Tess Kalinowski
Transportation Reporter

First there was myTTC.ca, the unofficial transit trip planner that elicited cheers among transit watchers in the blogosphere by pre-empting the TTC's own version.

Now Toronto's community of subversive transit-riding computer programmers has combined myTTC's trip-planning data with the portability of the trendiest technology around: the iPhone and iPod Touch. Called Red Rocket, the new application puts TTC route maps and schedules in the palm of a gadget-loving rider's hand, with the benefit of GPS capability.

It doesn't offer real-time information on where the TTC's vehicles are. But the schedule and route data from myTTC.ca is embedded in Red Rocket, and its creators – Hilary Street and George Talusan – say it's a more accurate portrayal of when buses and streetcars actually depart.

And it's been drawing similarly positive reviews online as the myTTC site, designed by another precocious programming duo, Kieran Huggins and Kevin Branigan, which lets visitors type in a departure point and destination intersection to find a suitable transit route and estimated travel time.

The Red Rocket application is the latest in a line of unofficial merchandise and transit technology to hit the street as the TTC works at developing its own offerings. "The software can help you do a number of things, but primarily it can tell you when a TTC vehicle is scheduled to depart. So if you're waiting for the streetcar, you can glance at your iPhone and find out when the next one is due to leave," said Street, a freelance web designer.

One of the biggest benefits of Red Rocket, which can be downloaded for a toonie, is its GPS capability.

"Users can tap a button and immediately find out where the closest stops are to them. If you're already at a stop, you can quickly figure out what the times are for the stop you're standing at," he said.

It works better on an iPhone than an iPod touch, which requires WiFi access. But iPod touch users can still search for stops by typing in the street name or route number.

Google Maps is integrated into the application, so the user can hit one button to drop a series of pins on a map, then zoom into a particular stop and find out how to get there.

The application still has some bugs, Street admits. A few icons don't work properly and there are glitches where times are being displayed in large numbers.

"We wanted to make an application that had a wide appeal to people. The TTC was a natural choice for that," he said.

An earlier iPhone application, called iTTC, by another software developer doesn't have the GPS capabilities or the myTTC.ca data of Red Rocket.

"You don't need an expensive cellular data plan or Internet connectivity to get scheduling information," says Talusan.

TTC officials don't mind tech-savvy riders getting a jump on their plans. A trip planner using the TTC's own data will be available in July and a next-vehicle arrival system will be tested on the Harbourfront streetcar line starting later this month, said spokesperson Brad Ross.

"If others wish to help make the TTC experience a better one," Ross said, "we support it 100 per cent."

Very nice! I've been using iTTC but it's been next to useless since I got it.

iTTC gives you all TTC routes and regularly downloads schedules. It fetches the closest next scheduled stop to the current time. This assumes that the vehicle is on schedule - which it never is. You also have to input your own location manually.

This new app looks to have addressed the shortcoming of iTTC. Downloading now. :)
 
The TTC should buy out the people who made this app and offer it free. And then I'd download it. I pay $30 a month for data, but I'm not willing to shell out $1.99 for an app I may not use.

CC, please don't take this as an attack on you, I mean this in a general sense...

I find it odd how people are unwilling to pay for the work of others... even if it's just a token price. Everybody wants everything for free these days. The internet culture, initially driven by dependants without income, has developed to "thou shall not pay for music. music is free on limewire" and "thou shall not pay for software. somebody out there has a crack and serial number that I can use".

I've purchased plenty of apps and some of them have definitely contributed to making my life easier and productive. Others turn out to be novelty apps that I try a few times and forget. Regardless: it's a toonie. Somebody worked on making the app, they should be compensated if you want to use it.

If you "may not use it", then don't purchase it of course.
 
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