tandempower

I am trying to plan a multimodal trip using Google maps, but if I put in my departure and destination points, it says there is no transit available and I have to choose nearby points for it to provide transit options. For some reason it won't just create a combination/multimodal transit trip that includes multiple miles of walking.

What is your experience planning multimodal travel? Do you use Google maps or some other apps in combinaton? Do you find yourself giving up the planning process because of the complexity and tedium? Does it surprise you that these systems haven't gotten ever-more effective and efficient in recent years? Imo, it seemed they were improving radically at a rapid pace for some time and then they began stagnating. I'm not sure why or what it would take to get these companies on track again. Maybe they ran out of money and it is time to develop some kind of Linux/Wikipedia/Craiglist for car-free multi-modal travel. Do you think that could ever be possible or are we forever dependent on Google and other commercial apps and their sponsors?

FBinNY 

I don't understand the issue. Are you talking intercity or local?

Here, I enter start and end, and hit bus. I get a choice of possible routes, showing connections and transit time, including walking sections. The data is time sensitive, so the fastest route will change depending on the schedule and connections.


It also integrates, my local buses, trains, NYC subways, and city buses at the other end.

I don't know what could be improved. Unless you want it to integrate bikes and mass transit, which, IMO is asking too much.

wipekitty

I'm sure that trip routing on Google Maps has improved since I last used it. That said, I prefer the old-school pen and paper plus web search way.

For walking, I've had no problems with Google Maps' suggestions, but I don't always like their suggestions for bike routes: they sometimes suggest gravel paths and poorly maintained "sidepaths" (sidewalks) that aren't particularly safe or efficient, when there's perfectly good non-arterial streets available. I've done better by opening Google Maps, clicking on Bicycling, and then using Street View to examine for myself whether a route looks okay.

Likewise, I've noticed that Google Maps' transit suggestions want me to minimize walking at the expense of efficiency. I've found it much easier to go to the local transit authority's website and get a schedule/map, and then plan the connections myself. This is useful for gappy transit systems - for example, in my own town, they want me to take two buses to get somewhere, when it's much faster to walk 3/4 mile and then take a single bus.

All this of course requires pre-planning. YMMV.

Machka 

+1

Works for me.

Roody

I think Google has already started to incorporate data from off-the-wall sources, but they could do better. For example, a local bike club puts out a pretty good print map of suggested bike routes. The map includes bike paths and bike-specific infrastructure, but also maps on-street bike routes that have been tested by human bike riders. This bike map should be incorporated into Google Maps, and used when somebody asks for bike directions.

tandempower

I don't see why it can't find whatever transit route is available and extend the walking distances as far as necessary to connect the transit stops. You can, after all, pick a departure and destination point 1000 miles from one another and it will give you a walking route for that.

I'm trying to plan a bus trip to an airport to catch a flight. This requires finding transit from a bus station to the airport @20miles away. I need to know how far I will have to walk in order to plan how early my bus needs to arrive to make it to the airport in time. Google maps transit planner could make this process a lot easier by giving me the full range of options, including walking and transit, to arrive by a particular time at the airport.

FBinNY 

Maybe the quality of google maps varies by area, or maybe I don't understand what you're looking for.

But here's an example of how good the tool actually is in this area.

.


Click "more options to bring it up live, then on the train icon for multi modal routes using mass transit.

Note, that you can click on any of the option and get a strip with the time of each segment, including the walk broken down. Also be aware that the information is time sensitive and the ranking and times will vary through th day based on train and bus schedules and connections.

So, try again, or maybe you can explain what you want.


BTW - stop being such a crybaby. We have a vat number of tools today that didn't exist only a few years ago. Maybe you should learn to use what you have instead of whining about it not being everything you wish for. The irony is that not so long ago, you wouldn't have been wishing for these features because you had no inkling that they might be possible.

tandempower

Idk why you would assume I'm 'crying,' complaining, or otherwise hating something unless you are just a person who assumes hate and therefore projects it onto anyone/anything that's not explicitly laudatory. Google maps is great or I wouldn't use it. If it hadn't amazed me with positive innovations through the years, I wouldn't have any expectation that there would be further ironing out of further bugs as time passes. If anything, I'm just surprised that these technologies that have evolved so fast have degenerated into a series of planned-obsolescences designed to force users into trading in and upgrading. It's like the movie Robots where the good engineer gets his operation taken over by the evil businessman who just wants to use it to squeeze maximum revenue out of the customer base.

FBinNY 

Maybe because I read your post.

"I am trying to plan a multimodal trip using Google maps, but if I put in my departure and destination points, it says there is no transit available and I have to choose nearby points for it to provide transit options. For some reason it won't just create a combination/multimodal transit trip that includes multiple miles of walking.....

I'm not sure why or what it would take to get these companies on track again. Maybe they ran out of money and it is time to develop some kind of Linux/Wikipedia/Craiglist for car-free multi-modal travel. Do you think that could ever be possible or are we forever dependent on Google and other commercial apps and their sponsors?"

and still don't know what your actual problem is. I offered examples that show that it already includes multi-modal travel, since that's what seemed to your issue, but I guess that was a waste of time.

I also made the mistake of assuming that if you were happy with the tool, you wouldn't have posted in the first place.

But have it you're way, I tried to see what your problem is, and offer you information, but I guess you didn't want that either.

I'm out.

tandempower

Apparently, your experience is different than mine. If you haven't experienced any problem, I'm not sure why you posted anything negative toward me, instead of just posting that you haven't noticed any problems. It seems you have made it a problem that I see opportunity for improvement.

Sometimes you can be happy with something, and still want to contribute to its further improvement. You're assuming that if something is good enough, you should just shut up about it and accept it as it is. That's very binary and if everyone did that, everything would stagnate instead of evolving further.

I think I've explained it pretty well in previous posts, but I don't get the idea you were really interested in figuring out why it was doing what it was doing or how it could be improved. As I recall, you basically just said that the only possible improvement you could imagine would be to incorporate a setting that combines bike and transit as well as walking and transit, but then you said that would be asking too much.

I think you are mostly interested in glorifying the status quo to the point of suppressing suggestions for improvement where things aren't totally horrible.

I can see that.

Roody

Backing off from the personal issues... I think Google Maps is very much a work in progress. Yhey rely on user input to improve the project and keep it updated. I lack the time and expertise to get involved with this but maybe others on the forum hae participated???

Google also relies on real time data sharing by transit companies, I went to a public comments session held by my local bus company and requested that they share data with Google Maps.

Machka 

OK, an experiment. Say I wanted to go from Hobart (southern Tasmania) to Devonport (northern Tasmania), with the intention of catching the Spirit of Tasmania which travels out of Devonport.

I have selected Hobart and Spirit of Tasmania boarding location in my directions and I've selected public transportation.

It tells me that if I leave now, I've got 1 option which will include 7 min of walking and 3:45 of bus travel.

Seems pretty straightforward to me.


Actually ... that's interesting. A person could take folding bikes as luggage on the bus and catch the ferry across to Melbourne and make a weekend of it.

jon c. 

Although I use googlemaps to find routes, I've never tried the bike route function before. Trying it from my house to my office, it gave me strange options that would add much distance for no good reason. The 'preferred route' was already needlessly long, but one of the options added a few miles just to use a bike path (which I didn't actually know existed) simply for the sake of using it. It went in almost entirely the wrong direction and seemed to be included just because it was there. And the 'preferred route' itself wouldn't actually be at all preferable. Not only longer, the first segment going into the city is a two lane road that has heavy traffic and no shoulder for a good bit. I assume it is selected because the final mile or so has a bike lane. But prior to that section, it's actually the last route you'd select.

The shorter suggested driving route is a 4 lane divided highway with excellent shoulders. But I assume googlemaps doesn't recognize those as bike lanes and is otherwise casting about for any snippet of bike lane it can find no matter what it takes to get there. So it isn't a useful tool in these parts, but then I've never needed to use it as such.

Machka 

Clicking the little bicycle icon gives me the elevation profile, so I'll map the route, click the little bicycle icon, then adjust the route to what I want, rather than what Google Maps suggests, and check the elevation profile.

Also, you can click the Bicycling option from the drop-down menu to get the overlay where the bicycle paths, etc. are. That's not always helpful, not necessarily where I want to go, but can sometimes be a useful option.

Machka 

Type in your home address.
Click the Directions link.
Click the arrows to make your home address your starting point.
Type in the airport.
Click the transit icon.

And there you are!

Dahon.Steve

+1

I have always used the local transit authority's website and stored a copy of the schedule in PDF on my phone. However, it takes time learning about different bus lines and their schedules to really take advantage of transit. Sometimes, the transit APP makes a poor choice constructing a longer itinerary.

Also, the APPs themselves depend on all buses having a GPS system attached to each vehicle like the system from a company called Clever Devices. I noticed not all buses have them so you need to have the PDF stored on your phone in case you don't see the buses on Google maps or the transit website.

mconlonx

This.

For instance, I live in So. ME, work in MA, and sometimes head into Boston. Local transit includes a private bus line which services the town I work and Boston. There's also commuter rail between where I work and Boston. So, depending on where I want to go, I will check the local bus line schedule, and the commuter line schedule, separately, without even glancing at Google Maps or any kind of mapping app.

Complicating things, the office is right next door to the commuter rail, but 3 mi away from the bus line station. So pre-planning might also involve leaving a bike locked in a rack at that particular station for that station to work stint. In Boston, the bus goes to South Station, while the Commuter Rail dumps out in North Station. So if I take the Commuter Rail into Boston and need to get to the bus station in order to catch a bus heading further south, there's that leg of the commute to consider. And while the subway does make that connection with one transfer, it's actually quicker to walk. I don't trust that a mapping app would make that distinction...

tandempower

I tried that and first it said no transit options were available. Then, I figured out where I had to drag my destination to get it to offer transit suggestions, but they all involved Red Coach when I know for a fact Greyhound and Megabus are also options. Google maps transit directions app is amazing, but it is somehow limited from figuring out every possible trip and I just wonder why that is.

Dahon.Steve

I think you'll have to call Greyhound and Megabus and find out their schedules and how many times a day they provide service to the stop you want to board. Unfortunately, both companies don't have this in PDF format but Greyhound does have a good site that can get you this information.

Machka 

You should be able to look up the Greyhound schedules online.

Go to the Greyhound site, click Service Info, select Timetables ... and you're off and running.
https://www.greyhound.com.au/service-info/timetables


Also, the business information that appears on Google Maps is the choice of the business, not Google. The businesses pay to have their service advertised on Google Maps. If you can't find a business on Google Maps ... they haven't agreed to be on Google Maps.

fietsbob

I really dont 'plan', Flew to Ireland, , rode to the coast west and north, took a Ferry to Scotland.

Took another "Island Hopper " deal to the inner Hebrides, then ashore at Oban..

Inverness to Forres. made friends stayed there for some time.. we took the bus to Aberdeen and back
for the Tall Ships Race stopover.
Later friend drove me & my boxed bike to the Aberdeen airport.. flight could not land AMS due to fog,
so landed inland then took bus back. flew AMS to SFO..

Previous tour AMS , Belgium France, Calais ferry to Dover

once in Newcastle another open ocean Ferry , to Norway..

then another to top of DK, CPH DK to PL.

Train to Warsaw And then back to SW ride to Czech Republic .. Etc.


I just figure things out as I go Along.. Map reading and talking to Others at Hostels and Pubs.

Internet not needed , it was Pre mobile Phone Era. as well..





...

Rob_E

It might be possible for some other transit-planning option to come along and make up for Google's shortcomings, but I'd be surprised. Google is improving. It wasn't that long ago that I couldn't even look up local transit options. I expect/hope that they will keep improving. It's unclear to me whether your issue is that Google doesn't do multi-modal well, or that Google doesn't have your preferred transit options. I've found both to be true in different situations. For me, if I want to catch a bus downtown after the last bus has passed my house, it will tell me to walk to the nearest place to catch a different bus. If it's too late to catch that bus, it will often tell me to walk all the way downtown or to wait until 5am for the next bus. But of course if I'm using a system Google doesn't track, I'm going to have to figure out those pieces myself. Not ideal, but it does seem like there is steady improvement.

I hope there is more improvement, but I can't imagine how difficult the math must be or how to account for all the variables. I live a bikeable distance from work. But I get to work a little faster and a lot less sweaty if I use a combination of bike and bus. Then I bike all the way home. I can also get all the way to work on busses, but one route has me going out of my way to the transit hub and catching another bus. The other way has me transferring at a closer stop, but the bus I transfer to has no bike rack. For Google to give me a reasonable route, I need to be able to tell Google how far I'm willing to ride, how long I'm willing to wait, and whether or not I need to take my bike with me whether or not I actually ride it. Seems hopelessly complex.

But it could do better. I would love for it to just account for the fact that I have a bike. If I look up a bus trip downtown, and the bus is 8 minutes away from the stop, it tells me I have to wait almost an hour for the next bus because the bus stop is a 10 minute walk away. If there was a little "I have a bike" button, Google could factor in the fact that I can be at the bus stop in 3 minutes. Working out each piece of the trip separately can be a chore, but just having bike and transit options in a map is pretty good progress from where we were a few years ago.

tandempower

Being able to select "biking between transit stops" would be a good option.

It would also be good if various transit lines/routes appeared as colored lines on the map; the way bike paths/lanes/routes do when you select bike as the mode option. That way you could at least get an overview of all the various transit options in the vicinity of where you're traveling.

Then you could click or mouse over each route/line for a pop-up and/or link to the schedule and stop times for that route.

Machka 

Don't tell us ... tell them.

Open Google Maps
Click the Menu Icon (the three horizontal bars)
Select Send Feedback

tandempower

Maybe, but they probably also bot-scan for discussions about their products.