Nice scenic tour, but...

[Chris Luth]

I appreciate that Google Transit is encouraging me to railfan the
LACMTA Gold Line, but this routing seems slightly unnecessary:

http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Union+Station&daddr=Burbank+Airport&hl=en&geocode=FZKpBwIdydvz-A%3B&mra=ls&dirflg=r&date=7%2F28%2F09&time=7:06am&ttype=dep&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=&tline=&sll=34.1263,-118.28921&sspn=0.193827,0.308647&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=12&start=2

Light rail - Metro Gold Line (804) - Direction: Sierra Madre Villa
Station
Service run by Metro Los Angeles
8:07am Depart Union Station
2 mins
8:09am Arrive Chinatown Station

Light rail - Metro Gold Line (804) - Direction: Union Station
4 mins to make transfer
8:13am Depart Chinatown Station
3 mins
8:16am Arrive Union Station

Train - Burbank-Bob Hope Airport - 905 - Direction: Burbank-Bob Hope
Airport
9 mins to make transfer
Service run by Metrolink Trains - (800) 371-LINK
8:25am Depart Union Station
25 mins
8:50am Arrive Burbank-Bob Hope Airport Metrolink Station

Walk to Bob Hope Airport
About 5 mins

The Chinatown station is a nice piece of architecture, but I'm not
sure most Google Transit users want to spend the time and money to go
from LAUS to Chinatown, hop off, get back on and head back to LAUS
before boarding their train to BUR.

Congrats, though, on getting all the major SoCal transit players on
GT! (I look forward to the day when ALL Amtrak California services are
included, so Google Transit can show a seamless trip from L.A. to the
Bay Area or wherever!)

[Joe Hughes]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the report. Though I have personally taken a joyride on
the Gold Line from Union Station, I agree that it's not for everyone.
We'll take a look at what's going on.

Cheers,
Joe Hughes
Google

[marcy]

Joe/Chris

These trips also offers some possibly unnecessary back & forth, if
helpful in debugging

trip option @7:24 has arrival at 7:43am Arrive Metrolink Station then
back to Metrolink after a spin to the other side of I-5

http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=7500+N+Glenoaks+Blvd,+Burbank,+CA+91504-1099+(Woodbury+University)&daddr=Union+Station&geocode=FYv6CQIdU0Hy-CGFFP06niN95g%3BFZKpBwIdydvz-A&hl=en&mra=ls&dirflg=r&date=08%2F13%2F09&time=7:06am&ttype=dep&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=&tline=&sll=34.1724,-118.307304&sspn=0.028547,0.057936&ie=UTF8&ll=34.175808,-118.311253&spn=0.028546,0.057936&z=15&start=1

and this one @ 16:58 offers the rider four ferry trips, there and
back; the late night ferries are only on Fri, Sat, Sun nights (in case
you test on other days of the week)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Poulsbo,+WA&daddr=W+Cedar+St+%26+N+2nd+Ave,+Sequim,+WA+98382&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&dirflg=r&date=08%2F14%2F09&time=9:27am&ttype=dep&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=&tline=&sll=47.946325,-122.857346&sspn=0.739569,1.853943&ie=UTF8&z=10&start=2

Marcy

On Jul 27, 11:24 am, Joe Hughes <joe.hughes.c...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Chris,
>
> Thanks for the report.  Though I have personally taken a joyride on
> the Gold Line from Union Station, I agree that it's not for everyone.
> We'll take a look at what's going on.
>
> Cheers,
> Joe Hughes
> Google
>

> On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 5:26 AM, Chris Luth<newslett...@danubealaska.net> wrote:
>
> > I appreciate that Google Transit is encouraging me to railfan the
> > LACMTA Gold Line, but this routing seems slightly unnecessary:
>

> >http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Union+Station&daddr=B...

[Joe Hughes]

Hey Chris,

We fixed the issue that was causing the weird LA route that you
mentioned--that query should now return something more reasonable.
Thanks for the report!

Cheers,
Joe Hughes
Google

[DHofmann]

Here's another scenic route:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=san+diego+amtrak+station&daddr=mission+viejo,+ca&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&dirflg=r&date=8%2F7%2F09&time=8:00pm&ttype=dep&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=&tline=&sll=33.208857,-117.454288&sspn=1.27996,2.329102&ie=UTF8&ll=33.293804,-117.545471&spn=1.278716,2.329102&z=9&start=0

To summarize:

(from San Diego Amtrak, 8:00pm)
1. 9:15pm Amtrak Pacific Surfliner #597 to Fullerton Amtrak
2. 4:54am OCTA Bus 43 to Harbor-Edinger
3. 5:52am OCTA Bus 70 to Golden Lantern-Crown Valley
4. 7:22am OCTA Bus 85 to Marguerite-Alicia
arrive 7:47am

Why does it take me all the way up to Fullerton when I could instead
get off in San Juan Capistrano and have a simpler route?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=San+Juan+Capistrano+Amtrak+Station&daddr=mission+viejo&hl=en&geocode=FSsx_wEd4Jn8-A%3B&mra=ls&dirflg=r&date=8%2F7%2F09&time=10:38pm&ttype=dep&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=&tline=&sll=33.545401,-117.688293&sspn=0.318761,0.582275&ie=UTF8&z=11&start=0

(from San Juan Capistrano Amtrak 10:38pm when that Amtrak Pacific
Surfliner #597 arrives)
1. 6:56am Metrolink Orange County Line to Laguna Niguel/ Mission Viejo
Metrolink Station
2. 7:26am OCTA Bus 85 to Arrive Marguerite-Alicia
arrive 7:47am

My best guess is Google Transit is trying to keep me moving as much as
possible instead of providing a trip with fewer transfers, even though
both options will get me there at the same time.

Derek

On Jul 31, 5:39 pm, Joe Hughes <joe.hughes.c...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Chris,
>
> We fixed the issue that was causing the weird LA route that you
> mentioned--that query should now return something more reasonable.
> Thanks for the report!
>
> Cheers,
> Joe Hughes
> Google
>

> On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 5:26 AM, Chris Luth<newslett...@danubealaska.net> wrote:
>
> > I appreciate that Google Transit is encouraging me to railfan the
> > LACMTA Gold Line, but this routing seems slightly unnecessary:
>

> >http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Union+Station&daddr=B...

[Joe Hughes]

Thanks for the report, Derek. We'll look into it.

Joe Hughes
Google

[Derek Hofmann]

Here's another one (San Jose to San Diego):

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=san+jose,+ca&daddr=san+diego,+ca&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&dirflg=r&ttype=dep&date=11%2F16%2F10&time=6:03pm&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=&sll=35.695795,-120.069585&sspn=4.558611,6.207275&ie=UTF8&ll=34.057211,-118.196411&spn=2.325397,3.103638&z=8&start=0

It wants me to take the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles Union Station,
then from Union Station I should take the 707 way out to Montclair,
only to take it right back to Union Station before proceeding on the
Pacific Surfliner to San Diego.

Derek

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[Chris Luth]

Been awhile since I messed around with less practical Google Transit routings (though I use it continually when traveling within cities away from home). I noticed that Amtrak data is loaded nationwide now--that's awesome!

I absolutely love that nationwide Amtrak data is now included on Google Transit. I'm amazed and impressed that I can ask Google Transit how to get from LA to NY...and it works! There are a few bugs, though, one of which is related to this email thread I posted in previously (which is why I'm bringing it up). It's also been mentioned in a couple of other Groups posts more recently--just search for Amtrak in this Group.

Anyway, there are two bugs with doing long-range Google Transit searches. The first is that it is still encouraging me to take scenic tours or make unnecessary connections. For example, a search from Los Angeles Union Station to New York Penn Station has me get off Amtrak's Southwest Chief in Naperville and connect to Union Station on the Metra BNSF line before connecting to Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited to NY, even though the Southwest Chief would take me all the way to Union Station and save me a transfer (and some money):

http://g.co/maps/mm8b2

A search from Los Angeles Union Station to Washington (DC) Union Station has me leave Chicago Union Station and take a little bus trip around the Chicago Loop before returning to Chicago Union Station to meet my Amtrak Capitol Limited:

http://g.co/maps/3fqde

A visit to the Miracle Mile is nice but not necessary. ;)

The other bug involves first-mile and last-mile directions on long-distance journeys.

I can search for a trip from Simi Valley, CA to Los Angeles Union Station and am presented with several journey options (http://g.co/maps/b6kfg). I can also search for a trip from New York Penn Station to Roosevelt Island, NY, and am given several journey options (http://g.co/maps/fd39t).

However, if I search for Simi Valley, CA to New York Penn Station (http://g.co/maps/yzyuz) or Los Angeles Union Station to Roosevelt Island, NY (http://g.co/maps/ye2hg), I am given an error that I'm searching outside the service error.

It seems, then, that local transit information is discarded when the distance exceeds a certain threshold. While it can be tweaked to give useful information, it really should be easy to be able to figure out how to seamlessly get from a local address in one city to a local address in another. I hold out hope that will someday happen. :)