Personalized transit itineraries now available
for rides on 18 bus, train and ferry systems

The online transit trip-planner operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is taking a quantum leap, with coverage expanding to include eight more transit systems. Now travelers can plan transit trips involving 18 interlocking local bus, train and ferry operators and approximately 440 routes and 11,500 bus stops and transit stations.

The eight new transit systems are Altamont Commuter Express (ACE), Benicia Transit, Caltrain, Dumbarton Express, Tri Delta Transit, Vallejo Transit, WestCAT and WHEELS (operated by the Livermore/Amador Valley Transit Authority).

The original transit operators whose routes and schedules have been available since MTC launched the trip planner last July are AC Transit, BART, County Connection (Central Contra Costa Transit Authority), Emery-Go-Round, San Francisco Muni and Union City Transit, and the Alameda-Oakland, Golden Gate Transit, Harbor Bay Island and Vallejo ferry services.
To use the trip planner, which is hosted by MTC’s Bay Area Transit Information Web Page, www.transitinfo.org, transit riders just type in the address, intersection or landmark they are departing from and their destination, and the system will tell them which routes to take, when and where to board, and where to transfer. In a recent enhancement of the system, walking maps showing how to get to, from and between transit stops have been made interactive. This allows the user to zoom in and out and pan from one spot to another, taking in newly added features such as parks, schools, hospitals and other landmarks. Now in color, the maps also can be printed out to take along on the transit trip.

Nearly 700,000 personalized transit itineraries have been produced in the nine months since the service has been available. “We’ve been amazed at the volume,” said Emilio Escudero, MTC project manager for the trip planner. “Increasingly, people are turning to the Web for all kinds of information. Obviously, this is an idea whose time has come.”

Comments received from users of the service have been enthusiastic. They include:
“Great feature! Now I can actually use public transit from my home in the East Bay ‘burbs to San Francisco destinations. If your goal was to increase use of public transit, you are successful in my case. Thanks for creating the trip planner.”

“This thing is the most helpful thing on the Web EVER.”

“The trip planner helps me figure out what [transit route] to take and to see what other options there are. Sure beats driving and looking for parking!”

The trip planner also is being used by the telephone information centers operated by the transit agencies themselves, making the service available to members of the public who don’t have access to the Web.

Golden Gate Transit and SamTrans routes and schedules are expected to be added to the online transit trip-planning service in the next six weeks or so, followed by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), Vacaville City Coach and Fairfield/Suisun Transit by midsummer, and Sonoma and Napa county transit operators in the fall.