MTA trip planner doesn't click, yet

Home to work. Walk to hunt valley from sparks. take 615 traqin towards BWI, get off at Cherry Hill. take the 51 bus to washington blvd. travel time, 1 hr 55 mins. Now, i take the train from hunt valley to lexington square, stop at Dunkin and get a coffee and then walk the rest of the way (about 2 miles) my travel time is 1hr 30 mins. I WALK 2 MILES and i still make it there before the MTA could get me there LOL. It's nice to know that time and effort has been put into this project. oh and that has me leaving home at 530 LOL. i leave at 5:50 and still catch the 559 light rail.

The false premise here is that the MTA actually offers a viable route between where people live and work. It's not the computer- it's the MTAs poorly designed routes.

MTA certainly has Howard Transit schedules to reference along with WMATA, Connect-A-Ride etc. There is a real need for a basic resource that crosses these artificial system boundaries and provides potential transit users with all the available information. Then we need to get the different systems to make system-to-system transfers simple. The reason transit is underuitilized (and therefore open to attack that it deserves to be under-funded) is because the system lacks coverage and simplicity. In 2009 America needs to have a national transit investment like we did with highways 50 years ago - and the labor jobs should be filled by citizens - not insourced illegals.

PublicTransitIsLame wrote:

The false premise here is that the MTA actually offers a viable route between where people live and work. It's not the computer- it's the MTAs poorly designed routes.

I agree with you 100%. i mean its not even their program, it's google maps with the mta's loose knit schedule mixed in with it. it'd take me almost 2 hours if everything worked on time!

They should change MTA back to the old Baltimore Transit Company--BTC: Better Take a Cab! What a system! And they want people to take the bus? Give me a break!

The new system is powered by Google Transit, a nationwide effort powered by Google to make route planning easy for public transit. Personally, I've used it a half dozen times already and have been thoroughly impressed. I ride the subway to work each day, but had never been able to figure out the buses, largely because the MTA's "maps" on their website were useless. Personally, I say "thanks" to the MTA for making this improvement. It has significantly improved my mobility downtown.

And, for the record, I'm a white, professional male who lives in Owings Mills.

Personally I commend MTA for adding this to their site. With pollution, gas prices, and traffic such a problem, it helps people realize routes in their area. So what if it isn't the fastest? Why is it in today's world everyone wants to get to places as soon as possible. Take some time and smell the flowers. I agree with Transit Rider as well- have you ever looked at the maps on their website. Simply useless. I would like to see the writer of this article make a better program before he shoots it down so quickly.

Who cares

YouHelpFixIt wrote:

Who cares

Anyone who rides--or would like to ride--public transit as a way to avoid traffic, save money on gas, avoid using a car, etc.

Transit Rider wrote:

<quoted text>
Anyone who rides--or would like to ride--public transit as a way to avoid traffic, save money on gas, avoid using a car, etc.

Right and like I said, who cares ?

YouHelpFixIt wrote:

<quoted text>
Right and like I said, who cares ?

Probably all those people complaining about high gas prices. Which would be about 2/3 of the electorate.

I just tried using the trip planner. And I think that it is an awsome tool. It was very precise and efficient. Thanks!

It's from the MTA. You were expecting it to work?