Pro Tip: Google Maps + KC Metro Transit + GIS
August 19th, 2007
Problem
You are having a hard time figuring out the bus system in Seattle or interpreting the MetroKC Trip Planner.
Solution
Quick pro tip with Google Maps and King County Metro Transit. I may be an Amateur at Ruby on Rails but I am a pro Seattle bus rider.
First off, check out Google Transit if you haven’t already. Google Transit is basically the Google Maps version of MetroKC Trip Planner. So instead of just seeing point A bus stop and point B bus stop in text, Google Transit presents the data in map form. Pro tip: Keep in mind that at times Google Transit Data is wrong. When in doubt or if it is a new route you are taking, be sure to double check with MetroKC - especially if you are riding on a holiday!
Now onto something that I recently discovered. If you zoom into Google Maps..err… zoom way in. You will see small bus icons representing bus stops. Click on one of those bus icons to see which buses stop at that bus stop including upcoming arrival times. This is very very useful if you already know what bus you are going to take and just need to know when it is coming next.
Although wait, what’s missing here? On busmonster.com, which also used to map MetroKC Transit data, it used to show a line on the map showing the exact route of the bus and even the location of where the bus should be at the given time. This is a great feature for those whom haven’t ridden the route before. Anyone know why the Google Map on Busmonster has been down for months?
Lastly, maybe this is a pipe dream (or a future project of mine), but I wish Google maps could be used for figuring out trips by bike. To do this they would not only have to exclude highways but it would have to incorporate topology data to help weigh results - along, of course, with a bunch of other criteria (ie. bike paths, bike lanes, congestion, etc.). This way I would know before I ride that going from Western to 4th in the Financial District is a heck of a lot harder than going from Western to 4th in Belltown. You’ll just have to believe me on that one :) Anyone know of some sort of Mashup that is already doing this?
Go GIS, make me proud!