Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Web-Based Transit Trip-Planner Serves Up One Millionth Itinerary

Online service celebrates first anniversary

CONTACT:

Emilio Escudero
510.817.3261

Réka Goode, MTC
510.464.7706

OAKLAND, Calif., July 10, 2002...Less than one year after its launch, the online transit trip-planner operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has reached a major milestone: It has provided Bay Area travelers with one million personalized public transit itineraries. The numbers clicked over in the week of June 24, while the anniversary date was hit on July 8.

"We are very gratified that the Bay Area public has found this service so useful," said Sharon Brown, chair of MTC. "We expect transit riders to find it even more useful down the line as we finish adding all of the region’s transit operators to our database."

Hosted by MTC’s Bay Area Transit Information Web Page, <www.transitinfo.org>, the service currently allows travelers to plan transit trips involving 18 interlocking local bus, train and ferry operators and approximately 440 routes and 11,500 bus stops and transit stations. Transit riders just type in the address, intersection or landmark they are departing from and their destination, and the system will tell them which routes to take, when and where to board, and where to transfer.

Bus operators whose schedules, routes and fares are currently available on the trip-planner include San Francisco Muni and the transbay Dumbarton Express as well as the East Bay bus systems AC Transit, Benicia Transit, County Connection (Central Contra Costa Transit Authority), Emery-Go-Round, Tri Delta Transit (Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority), Union City Transit, Vallejo Transit, WestCAT (Western Contra Costa County Transit Authority) and WHEELS (operated by the Livermore/Amador Valley Transit Authority).

Rail operators included in the online service are the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE), BART and Caltrain.

Ferry lines that are part of the transit trip-planner system are the Alameda-Oakland, Golden Gate Transit, Harbor Bay Island and Vallejo ferry services.

In addition to providing transit directions, the trip-planner can produce sophisticated, geographic information system-based walking maps that show how to get to, from and between transit stops. The maps allow the user to zoom in and out and pan from one spot to another, taking in features such as parks, schools, hospitals and other landmarks. The color maps can be printed out to take along on the transit trip.

The trip planner also is being used by the telephone information centers operated by the transit agencies themselves, making the service available to members of the public who don’t have access to the Web.

Golden Gate Transit, San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) routes and schedules are expected to be added to the online transit trip-planning service in the late fall. Phased in early next year will be Vacaville City Coach and Fairfield/Suisun Transit as well as Sonoma and Napa county transit operators.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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