About time.

Say, does the MAD desk at IAH and at the Downtown termal know about this, so to help people who are out of town?

** The real estate blog, Swamplot, loves this merger of METRO routes with Google Transit, saying **

The hobby bloggers even managed to post about this news DAYS before METRO's expensive, taxpayer-funded blogger did.

That's really some return on the taxpayer's investment.

MAJOR PROBLEM.  I asked the thing to send me from the Med Center to N. Shep P&R.  It is telling me to walk from Shep. and Victory off the 66.  Er, the 66 STOPS AT THE P&R!

As Ms. Sit explaned, the trip planners are good for a baseline of where you need to go. All trip planners, in Houston, in New York, for employees, or on the phone are never perfect. I fear this:

METRO starts by submiting information to Google at first and it works pretty smooth. Then when the next service changes come, Google won't be updated and someone from out of town will get a little bit confused. Eventually, if it is rarely updated, the entire system gets out of hand (Think when the 236 didn't go to Baytown). The project fails and everyone is either confused or mad.

I hope everyone will rely on METRO's Trip Planner or the call center. It cuts out the middle man so information cannot be "lost in translation." Even though I predict bad outcomes, I hope it will still work.

Freaking, absolutely, amazingly, smashingly, outstandingly, awesomely, bootleggedly, cat-chowingly, building-crushingly great. I approve.

It's good, but I also worry about periodic updates. Hopefully, there is a plan in place to do this frequently and automatically.

Another problem:  

Plan a trip from Hobby Airport to Bush IAH, It doesn't have any option to take the 102 , it wants people to take that wasted 500 bus.

Same way if you plan a trip from the Hillcroft Transit...  

$15 bucks one way is out of the question for most metro riders....

Ummm---why would you want to plan a trip from one airport to another via METRO?

The point is it sends you on the 500 from downtown no matter what. The logic is clearly that it takes less time. Google doesn't factor in the fare.

I don't know how METRO determines these things, but I think some serious thought should be given to lowering the Airport Direct fare to $10 or even $5. I have to believe you would get at least 3 times more riders at $5 than you do at $15. What kind of public transportation prices itself out of most people's reasonable range? I's not like METRO is trying to turn a profit, so why not serve more people?

This is absolutely great.  I trust Google to plan my trip more than METRO's Trip Planner.  Even if it isn't perfect right now, Google actually updates their algorithms often unlike METRO.

Unlike the METRO version, Google actually recognizes Houston street addresses on the first try. It's much better - I'd suggest killing the one on your own site and just directing people to Google. Seriously.

Agree with John.  Here is another reason:  Let's say you want to go from ELDRIDGE PKY S @ BRIAR FOREST DR to LONG POINT @ BLALOCK.  METRO's Trip Planner suggests you go on #53 all the way to downtown and transfer to #20.  This will take almost 2.5 hours one way.  However, if you are willing to make two transfers (#53 - #46 - #20) your travel time will be reduced by 50%.  And that's what GOOGLE TRANSIT suggests.

Thank you, METRO, for letting us access your schedules through Google maps.  Please, please:  keep everything up to date!

Cedric:

Airport to Airpoert--SW does not go to Bush.  CO does not go to Hobby.  Or somebody wants to go to the other airport, but is dropped off at the one on the other side of town.

The 5XX should go to HOBBY!

Sorry Dominic but that doesn't make sense.  What does make sense is that there should not only be trips from the METRO Airport Direct Pass. Plaza to Bush and back but also trips from METRO Airport Direct Pass. Plaza to Hobby and back---just like a regular route.

Re:

Another problem:  

Plan a trip to... Bush IAH, It doesn't have any option to take the 102 , it wants people to take that wasted 500 bus.

$15 bucks one way is out of the question for most metro riders....

Response:

Google is about speed and efficiency. Additionally, the METRO 303030 to IAH bus is for air travelers. They don't fall into the standard METRO demographic and indeed can afford to pay for an upgrade in service.

Quote:

I don't know how METRO determines these things, but I think some serious thought should be given to lowering the Airport Direct fare to $10 or even $5. I have to believe you would get at least 3 times more riders at $5 than you do at $15. What kind of public transportation prices itself out of most people's reasonable range? I's not like METRO is trying to turn a profit, so why not serve more people?

(sic)

METRO isn't trying to make a profit, but they aren't trying to take losses, either. They need to continue to increase revenue in order to be responsible.

Other major cities in the US pay much more than we do for airport service. Our fare is acceptable.

That said, I'd like to see more riders on the Express bus. With the QCard, METRO has enough data to easily track use and will update its fare schedule if necessary.

Quote:

Sorry Dominic but that doesn't make sense.  What does make sense is that there should not only be trips from the METRO Airport Direct Pass. Plaza to Bush and back but also trips from METRO Airport Direct Pass. Plaza to Hobby and back---just like a regular route.

Sorry Cedric but that doesn't make sense. What does make sense is for the planners with the necessary data to make good decisions based on ridership demands. DTC to IAH and back---just like a regular route.

Moreover, the commute to IAH from Downtown is significantly more time consuming than the commute from Downtown to HOB. Indeed, the 80 bus already only takes about half an hour.

Further analysis suggests that the types of clients that use each airport have different demands. IAH serves international and long distance travelers, while HOB is the economical alternative. Accordingly, METRO need not offer expensive special service to a destination that already has great service on two routes and that doesn't have the user base to support higher fees.

Indeed, Brian and John, Google Maps does offer superior technology because of its interface and adaptability.

Another thing I like about the Google Maps directions is that they encourage people to walk a bit further without hesitation (based on anecdotal observation). Houstonians could use an extra half mile every now and then.

Derrick, worry not. The API for Google Transit requires instant updates. All Google Transit affiliates are required to share a live updated database with Google. It's all automatic and very sparse. Google takes care of figuring out how to route things on its own.

I'd like to get a peek at some of that code, but I bet it's a trade secret.

Whatever floats your boat Jake but it makes perfect sense to me.  To each his own, I guess.  What's also wrong is that the 80 route doesn't go to Hobby; the 88 route DOES go to Hobby.  The 88 may not take that long to get to Hobby to some people but there ARE stops in between and certain folks may want to go DIRECTLY there (to the airport)---just like a taxi service.

There is such a thing as a "trial run" to see if the number of people METRO want to see will use the service and if successful, green light.  If not, scrap the plan.

The point is that if people want to go from downtown DIRECTLY to any of the two airports with NO stops in bewteen, this Airport Direct thingy should do nicely instead of the 88.  Otherwise, if you think it doesn't work, then the only other solution I have is the taxi---if you ride by yourself, of course.

Jake, have you used Airport Direct? It is certainly a great service, but is far from successful so far. I made a round trip on a weekday afternoon this week. Apart from the person whom I was picking up and me, there was one other passenger in each direction. The 102, meanwhile, carries decent loads but takes over an hour to make the run. Airport employees I'm sure would love to ride the Airport Direct, but can't at $15 per ride. Meanwhile, this "premium service" is running empty.

Quote: "the METRO 303030 to IAH bus is for air travelers. They don't fall into the standard METRO demographic and indeed can afford to pay for an upgrade in service."

They can, but so far they are not.

The 88 takes 45 minutes on a good day from Downtown to Hobby and like most Metro services it is often late.

Has Anyone have any problems using Google Transit?

Whenever I try to use it, I get this message like this one

"Sorry, we don't have transit schedule data for a trip from Westheimer Rd & Yorktown St, Houston, TX 77056 to Louisiana St & Lamar St, Houston, TX 77002 at the time and date you specified."

or any two points within the Metro System for that matter.....

JLN,

   I haven't tried it out yet but I'll try it out to see if it's better than Trip Planner.

I get the "Sorry, we don't have transit schedule data..." error almost every time.

Honestly, I just moved to the area and use public transit from my home to work.  I found that the google transit was available to use on my Iphone and It worked amazingly well.  I couldn't have been more pleased.  But now I've noticed that the transit option doesn't work anymore.  I'm completly sick over this.  This one feature was well worth the entire purchase price of the iPhone.  Has anyone else experienced this issue?  I've also tested it through the regular online site from the computer and it's also not working.  I hope they can get this together soon.  

I'm planning a trip now (Wednesday) and the first bus Google shows is for Saturday! Is it just me?

Just tried this Google Transit deal and yup---there's flaws that need to be fixed.

For example, I want to depart from the Mesa Transit Center and would need to go to the HCC-Central Campus.  I typed in the address in which I will be leaving from to go to the Mesa TC.  It even tells me if I need to walk, take a short ride on the bus, stuff like that.  In this case, it wants me to WALK to the transit center.  So far, so good---as I do that almost every morning so that's a plus for Google Transit.

Now---the only two buses that can take me from there to downtown without any transfers to another bus are the 52 and the 77.  It tells me to take the 77.  SMART CHOICE!  That's another plus for Google Transit.

Now comes the flaw.  Once in downtown, it wants me to transfer to the 5, get off on Elgin @ Crawford and walk the rest of the way.  WRONG!  It should of told me that I can either get off on Fannin @ Prairie and catch METRORail to the Ensemble/HCC Station or maybe even get off at the Downtown Transit Center and catch the train to HCC.  Once at the Ensemble/HCC Station, I can either walk or take a short ride on the 42 as it (and the 11=>board at the Downtown Transit Center; same stop as the southbound 77/MLK) can drop you off at the corner of Holman @ Austin.

On that note, METRO needs to do some more tweaking with this.

JLN,

   You may need to try your problem again.  I just checked with what you posted (for example) and it works for me.  For what you put, you can catch the 81 bus.

I am having real problems using google transit. It says that  bay area park and ride isn't in the service area.  

GOOGLE TRANSIT SUCKS!