Over on ColumbusUnderground, someone posted today about how google transit maps now features information on COTA routes in Columbus (even though we’re not a city listed on their main page). I’ve not officially tried this out yet, but it appears to work much better than the official COTA ride planner, which never seems to want to understand the addresses I try to enter into it.
Anyone given it a shot yet? I’ll be trying this out ASAP this week to see how accurate it is. Some routes were updated last month, so hopefully the information google is displaying reflects those changes to service.
Update: It was down for awhile as we jumped the gun on the official launch, but as of yesterday, it’s back up and this time it’s official. Enjoy!
Looks like I’m hoofin’ it to work tomorrow…
Haha. I wonder why it didn’t show any routes at all. I guess it’s sort of an unofficial release right now. But I assume walking will still be your best option anyway.
I e-mailed COTA about this about 2 months ago… seems all Google needs is an industry standard file from COTA to populate their system. I think the onus for providing the information to Google is on COTA, and not Google going out and getting the data themselves. So point being, I bet it’s accurate with the updated routes.
Funny, I just began putting together neighborhood maps listing local businesses including COTA routes (ones that are more frequent than those with hourly stops). I’ll have to try and see how it works. Of course, while this helps make it easier to use people don’t like confusing routes and waiting for an extra hour if they miss the bus. Make an official master streetcar system map and have COTA perform the routes of future lines? COTA just needs several routes totally revamped ASAP, I just can’t believe that this hasn’t been addressed internally yet.
UPDATE: I guess this is no longer working. Perhaps we jumped the gun and started using it before it’s ready for the public? Damn.
UPDATE: Heard from Eric @ Cap City Savvy that it will be back up on July 3rd according to COTA.
UPDATE: It’s back up!
http://www.google.com/transit
[...] COTA officially launched their Google Mapping tool last week, I’ve been using it pretty exclusively to plan my bus trips. It’s very [...]