Wow, what a great idea. Oʻahu Transit Services (operator of TheBus) has teamed up with Google to put bus routes and schedules on Google Maps. Here's an article about it, and here's the link to the Google Transit Trip Planner.
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Google Transit
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Re: Google Transit
Very cool. I knew they were working on it, but as with most things, I was figuring implementation would take a year or so. Can't stop playing with it!
How to get from Waikiki to Chinatown on TheBus. Or Manoa Marketplace to Anna Millers. Or Downtown to Aoki's in Haleiwa. Whee!
Now all they need to do is connect up their GPS system so we can track the actual buses!
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Re: Google Transit
Um. Absolutely it's in it's beta stages. Heck, it might be pre-beta. It's in Google Labs, and even the Star-Bulletin seems to be saying it's not officially released. They just don't mind if TheBus starts singing its praises early.
Some trip paths, particularly long ones that are basically all one route (i.e. 52), do seem to be displayed with basic point-to-point lines rather than tracking the actual path on local roads. It might be just for simplicity's sake, or they might still be adding datapoints along each route.
One test would be to pick a spot along the actual route not displayed for a point-to-point plot and see if it tracks better.
Either way, though, I think this system will get you there, and will save both TheBus and commuters some time and effort.
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Re: Google Transit
One thing I noticed -- and I'll need to play with it some more to confirm -- is that the system doesn't handle transfers where you get off your first bus at one stop, walk a block, and get onto a second bus at another stop. This is a fairly common thing to happen in downtown Honolulu.
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Re: Google Transit
Originally posted by pzarquonSome trip paths, particularly long ones that are basically all one route (i.e. 52), do seem to be displayed with basic point-to-point lines rather than tracking the actual path on local roads. It might be just for simplicity's sake, or they might still be adding datapoints along each route.
One test would be to pick a spot along the actual route not displayed for a point-to-point plot and see if it tracks better.
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