New option for AATA trip planning
You won't find a link to it on the AATA site but Google maps has added Ann Arbor to the list of cities for which you can get transit directions as well as driving directions. It's also pretty hard to tell by looking at the page that you're there but this seems to be where you start: Google Transit Ann Arbor
Perhaps one reason AATA isn't really promoting this is that it has its own trip planning site. In not-very-extensive testing, each site seems to have its own quirks, but they definitely have advantages over using the printed route maps and timetables. Even experienced transit users can find it a little daunting to figure out a new route with them; for people who are considering taking the bus for the first time, trying to make sense of them can be a big barrier. Any new options that help potential transit users become actual transit users can't hurt efforts to increase ridership.
1 comments:
The Google Transit planner isn't too bad, though it has some weird ideas about walking. If your closest bus stop is across a freeway or across a river, it will gladly tell you to wade through water or cross many lanes of traffic.
The other thing to watch for is close connections recommended with routes where there is no official transfer but you can hop from one route to the next if one is early and the other is late and you step lively.
All in all much better than the AATA site - it's already gotten me places by bus that I would really not have had the confidence to get to with just the printed schedule.
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