Newsletter: Real-time Transit Info in the Palm of Your Hand
I have long been an advocate of using mass transit while traveling. I’ve been on trains and subway systems all over the world. I know most of you would prefer to rent a car to get around, but sometimes that’s just not an option.
For me, planning a transit excursion was fun; coordinating time schedules, locating bus stops, determining connections and layovers. Transit schedules have been readily available on the Internet for close to 10 years now. Even in countries where English is not the primary language, signs are often posted in English as well for the convenience of visitors. I’ve been all over Hong Kong island by bus, and it’s a great way to see the city and feel like a local, even if you don’t look like a local.
I recently acquired a full-time, on-site consulting contract near my home and decided to use mass transit rather than commuting by car through what is one of the worst highway bottlenecks we have around here. The bus to my client’s location uses surface streets and back roads, so the commute is quick and painless. Of course getting up at 6 am is challenge for me, but one I am committed to overcoming.
Naturally I began planning for my commute using the online transit pages. I remembered that a colleague on my last contract mentioned an iPhone App that delivers real-time bus information to your device. I installed it then but didn’t have much use for it until now. Having figured out the route, the iPhone app would be helpful in knowing exactly when the busses would arrive.
That one “timeliness” feature turns out to be a godsend. It removes the anxiety and frustration of wondering 1) whether you missed your bus, and 2) when it’s really going to show up. What’s nice about this particular application is that it not only shows you the bus you’re expecting, but every arrival at that stop, in case using an alternate bus is an option.
Timeliness is Next to Godliness
For business travelers, getting there on time is everything. We usually schedule our trips down to the last minute if we can, hoping that everything goes as planned. I think more travelers would consider using mass transit as part of their plan if they knew that the transit was reliable and timely. There is good news on this front; the increase in smart phone usage has encourage app developers to produce more of these real-time transit applications for our use.
Seattle is a high-tech town, so I would expect there to be coverage like this available. I went searching through iTunes, though, to see what other cities might have apps covering their territory. Naturally, having apps developed would depend on how much the local population depends on mass transit and/or how good the transit coverage is. As you might expect, the larger metropolitan areas have many apps available for download (most of them free). For example:
New York City Subways
Long Island Railroads
New Jersey Transit (Rail)
New Jersey Transit (Bus)
PATH Train (New Jersey to New York)
SE Pennsylvania Transit (SEPTA)
Washington DC Metro
NextBus DC
Chicago L (eLevated trains)
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
METRA: Long-distance Northeastern Illinois trains
San Francisco (bus)
CalTrain: SF commuter rail
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) around San Francisco
San Jose (bus)
But there are applications available for other metro areas as well.
Here is a partial list:
Denver
Los Angeles
Greater Boston (MBTA)
Miami-Dade County
Sacramento
San Diego
Seattle/Puget Sound
And don’t forget cities outside the USA:
Taipei
Bangkok
These are just the cities whose applications included the name of the city. There are dozens more applications in the list that didn’t include the city or region name, such as mine, titled “OneBusAway.”
These are just the iPhone applications — I saw many of the same apps in the Android Market as well.
Most of us travel pretty compactly, so hoisting a bag onto a transit bus isn’t any more difficult than hoisting it onto a hotel shuttle (except that you have to do it yourself). With the availability of this real-time transit information, the option to use mass transit on your next business trip should be seriously considered.
I invite you to jump on and enjoy the ride.
