Improve online transit info, get a Green Wheels T-shirt and membership

[Aaron Antrim]

Dear transit riders & sustainable transportation advocates:

I'm pleased to announce a public beta release of a new online transit mapping tool for Humboldt County at

http://www.trilliumtransit.com/clients/humboldt/map.php

The tool shows most of Humboldt's transit routes overlayed on the street grid using Google Maps.  It shows all transit stops and routes/service areas at once, but, unlike traditional maps, incorporates schedule information.  If you zoom in and click on transit stops, you can see stop times for all services that serve that stop.  I find this is particularly useful for seeing how services line up for transferring at different hours of the day.  Unlike the Google Transit transit trip itinerary planner, these route maps are a comprehensive view of transit routes, instead of limited to a specific itinerary.

Here's where you come in:

First, I hope you find the map useful and enjoy using it!

Second, I am interested in any comments you have regarding the map.  How can it be made more useful or usable for you? (please see the known issues & new features goals before submitting comments -- not all these features will necessarily be implemented, though, so tell me if one would be particularly useful)

Third, your help is needed to more precisely identify transit stop locations.  You'll notice that most stops are located in the middle of intersections, instead of on the near- or far-sides of streets.  Mid-block stops are often not very accurately represented.

Soon, I'll be getting DVDs that show footage from the exterior camera of the bus alongside latitude and longitude information.  I'm looking for a volunteer to watch a few hours of video from a few north- and south-bound trips (most of the trip can be fast-forwarded through, so it should go pretty fast), and note the lat & lon for each bus stop.  In exchange for your contribution to this effort, I'll pay for a one-year Green Wheels membership in your name which will get you a Community Wheel subscription and discounts at local bike shops, and a stylish Green Wheels T-shirt.

I may also be interested in making a similar arrangement with volunteers to ride ETS and AMRTS and use provided handheld GPS receivers to mark stop locations and gather route path information.

Your work will not only result in a more accurate transit map, better data on Google Transit, and enable Trillium to begin to work show route paths in Google Transit, instead of the stop-to-stop lines that  currently show up.  Opportunities may be available for this process as well.

I am looking forward to hearing from you!  I aim to have this project finished by the end of the week.

This map, thus far, has been an un-funded project of Trillium.  The project has also benefited from help from the HSU GIS/Geospatial Club to make route path data available.

If you would like to learn more about how this map was created, or using the Google Maps API, don't hesitate to drop me a line.  I even have a useful book I can lend on the subject.

Cheers,

Aaron

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Aaron Antrim

Trillium Solutions

707.633.4464

www.trilliumtransit.com