News item: The Chicago Transit Authority has been swallowed into the universe of the Google Inc.’s mapping technology.
Users who turn to the Google Maps for directions can now find an option providing step-by-step instructions on how to take CTA buses and trains to their destinations. The service melds the CTA’s existing Trip Planner with the Google Maps.
For example, typing a starting address and a destination of “Solchers Fielt” into the Google’s “Take Public Transit” function provides suggested CTA options, as well as bus and train departure times. Those times should become more accurate by next year, when all CTA buses become part of its bus tracker program.
“The CTA is now part of (a) global community and offers people the opportunity to choose a more environmentally friendly way to get where they want to go,” Mayor Richard M. Daley said at a Tuesday news conference announcing the partnership.
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CTA President Ron Huberman said the CTA will receive roughly $60,000 from ads the Google is placing on the transit agency’s Web site.
Chicago is the largest of 25 cities to incorporate public transportation schedules and routes into the Google’s maps. Directions are available in 11 languages and can be accessed by anyone through the Internets.
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4 comments:
Fung plugged in his trip to go eat some Skillet Cookie this evening, with surprising results. It's saying I should take da brown line to Western & take the bus from there. I thought I should take da Purple line all da way to Howard, but what do I know? Dat's only like the third option, and it gets me there half an hour early. It's way too cool though. I'm hooked. Hooked I tells ya.
It even tells me how much I saved vs driving! Now if only it told me how much less I polluted, how much less traffic I caused, how I just stopped global warming by taking the train. Though to counter that it should probably also tell me how much time I wasted since it will take me twice as long.
It should also give me a calculator so I can tell whether I'll save money with the lower sales tax rate in wherever I go from wherever I'm going.
It ain't complete either - I tried entering in Naperville, and apparently that fell outside their scope, so either they don't have Metra or they don't have Pace (or both). Did I mention I'm hooked?
Why would you even think of putting in Naperville?
Because that's where Tiger Direct is, where all the cool computer stuff is, but who wants to wait a whole day while they ship it to ya. Not to mention that sometimes you like to touch before you buy. However, Microcenter is an ordeal using the buses, and that's on Elston. Imagine a place that's at least a mile from the closest Metra station that only gets trains every two hours and in a suburb where there are (probably) no sidewalks. This is what drives people to get cars - it takes all sorts of mental gymnastics to figure out how to get somewhere on the RTA (dat's all tree of dem phoks) whereas you can get into your car, tell it you want to go somewhere and it will tell you to "turn left in 300 feet". Not to mention getting there and back in a third of the time. Ugh.
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