Way back in December, Tyler found Google Transit which gives Portlanders a quick way to determine various mass transportation schedules and comparing the times and costs to driving. And although he acknowledged that it made great sense in Portland, Tyler practically begged Google to partner with HARTline here in Tampa.
I guess Google Transit read The Casimir Effect, because Tampa/HARTline has been chosen as part of an growing network of cities with Google’s mass transit schedulizer thingy. (Funny – it sounds like HARTline alluded to this development in a meeting Tyler attended last December).
From Tyler’s post today:
Google announced today that it is expanding the Google Transit program to include Tampa. Hartline helped out Google at no cost except some extra time on the part of their technical staff, and will be promoting the program heavily over the coming months.
Go ahead, try it out for your own commute, or take a look at my commute. Apparently the system doesn’t use express routes so my commute time is shown as 46 minutes. Compare to 16 minutes driving. Ugh. Still very cool work on the part of Google and Hartline!
So now you have a tool to really compare driving vs. taking mass transit. Which leads me to the next part of this story – how good is HARTline?
I want all of you to go visit Google Transit, plan the route from your home to your job, and give me the comparison in cost (use .48 per mile driving) and time. The more of you that respond will give us a clearer picture. Please take just a few minutes to find out and share it here so we can get an idea of HARTline’s effectiveness.
Example Route: From Freedom High School in New Tampa to the Port Tampa City Library takes 2 hours & 13 minutes with HARTline. Driving the 28.7 miles takes about 39 minutes, and costs $13.77 (28.7 miles * 48 cents).
tampabaymuse
3 years ago
from my house to job:1 hour 35 mins in transit
12 mins walking to/from your route
Drive there-13.3 mi (about 20 mins)
Jason
3 years ago
1hour 13 mins on the bus including 22 mins walking in the rain/heat.
15 minutes by car.
I’m not doing the math.
Jason
3 years ago
oh and this does not account for time waiting at the stop itself.
dcdave
3 years ago
there’s public transportation here?
Jason
3 years ago
they are those big things you get stuck behind in traffic sometimes.
IFly
3 years ago
By Hartline 1 hour 26 minutes with 48 minutes walking, drive it in 25-35 minutes.
Mr. Bill
3 years ago
1 hour ten minutes by Hartline, 10 minutes by car.
tommy
3 years ago
Great job guys – keep ‘em coming please.
Rick
3 years ago
I work from home(lucky me), but fly almost weekly, soooo it’s an 1 hour and 9 minutes by bus, with 15 minutes total walking, $2.00; and its 12 minutes and $3.38 by car; or it’s 12 minutes and $14 by cab. I live in south tampa, you’d think there would be more direct routes to popular places like malls, airports and downtown..hmmmmm!
I say, have lines running on all main thourough fares, with exchanges at malls and downtown(already exists)
David Pinero
3 years ago
I’m going to focus on the fact that the service will actually uncover one or two regular trips we can take by bus that we hadn’t thought of before. I just found out that I can hit the International plaza on Saturday SANS CAR. It’s a Saturday so I’m not so concerned about time, and all the stops are nearly doorstep to me. It would have been daunting to try and figure all that out using paper.
What the service will do is get people asking questions. At some level it does in fact underscore more clearly than any way has before that we are underfunding mass transit. For the first time people will notice a convenient route then be given to ask, “But why is it only once every hour?”. This is going to speed up demand in my opinion.
Joel
3 years ago
I hope people are adjusting those Google driving times for rush hour
By car: about 7 minutes according to Google, though it’s closer to 15-20.
By bus: 21 minutes, 18 of which is walking.
My old commute, which I used to do by bus, was from Temple Terrace-ish to downtown:
By car: Google says 17 minutes. Yeah, right.
By bus: 1 hour, nine minutes, with 13 minutes of walking.
My current trip doesn’t make a lot of sense for the bus. A bicycle makes more sense, which I use when the weather is nice (i.e. starting in October).
I’m with Dave – for now, it’s nice to use the bus for those other trips.
dcdave
3 years ago
dreams of real public transportation…
http://wmata.com
Cara
3 years ago
My route would involve a) upwards of 25 minutes of walking b)an hour of transit c)transfering buses…all so I can get to work by 6:30 am. Hate to say it, but my “fuel efficient” Honda and 15 minutes of driving suits me better.
Tyler
3 years ago
I also mentioned NextBus
We’ll see if they run with that idea as well.
Oh yeah, 46 minutes and 7 minutes walking vs. 16 minutes
Cost $3.84 driving vs. uh… free with u-pass
tim
3 years ago
My route does not even exist, as the last bus to leave the transit center for campus takes off before the first bus that picks me up from my house arrives. Doh!
tommy
3 years ago
In another post, John noticed that Dave Pinero also wrote about the new google transit service. A reader there commented that HARTline does not make it to the terminal, stopping at the TIA US Post Office instead. In addition to that 15 minute walk, the bus ride would take 46 minutes for the 9 mile trip.
In Theory » Take me through the river
3 years ago
[...] At the request of Tommy I saw what Google and HARTline could do with my morning commute. My first try was with my old commute, one I made almost exclusively by bus. [...]
Sarah
3 years ago
I sort of forgot that Google Transit existed. That’s cool, though.
Busta
3 years ago
‘Nextbus’ type technology is already coming- 20+ real time information signs at transfer centers and (potentially) the airport.
Web access to realtime arrivals is in the works as well
Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog » Blog Archive » google maps traffic
3 years ago
[...] you had the regular maps. Then they added a satellite view, and the hybrid. Then they came out with Google Transit. And now Google includes traffic information on their maps. Oh, and the [...]
Joe Piervincenti
2 years ago
I’ve been a rider on the Hartline Bus System for four years now. I feel qualified to comment on it’s efficiency. The company has a schedule yes, and it isn’t always perfect but the variable that the public has to deal with is the inconsistencies amongst drivers, individuals who feel that they make the rules. Oh, there are many excellent drivers that deal with it no matter what, but, the real thorn in the proverbial side are those drivers who do what they want. Driving fast, leaving late, going ahead of the schedule and so on and so forth. What I like the most are the womanizers that cater to their recent love interest to the expense of the riding public. Or those who disregard the physical needs of persons with disabilities. (One driver called a wheel chair bound woman a whiner which I heard him distinctly say to another driver over a new detour in the route near her house.) I know all the names too. I haven’t been silent either in my complaints to management, most of which pay lip service to a patrons complaints. The ills of the system persist. Union representatives have literally confronted me personally over complaints I’ve made about drivers insinuating that they would get even with me for it. I have those names also. it sickens me that I have to rely on this system. I have certain disabilities and low income which prevent me from purchasing a car. What a nice way to treat an older citizen. Way to go Hartline drivers, you know who you are.
Joe Piervincenti
2 years ago
PS. Last night I was aghast when I came into Netpark on the last 6, walked over to the men’s room, found the supervisor standing there with the key in his hand poised to lock it up, and then saying “WHAT?!” to me when I looked at him. I can’t imagine he didn’t know that I needed the men’s room but he proceeded to lock it shut right in my face and then drove away.
I wrote in the past to Mr. Roberts about personnel closing the restrooms before the buses stopped running. He seemed to administer to it and they were staying open but nothing lasts forever, does it? Without management sitting on top of their employees they’ll resort to taking the easy way out again. I wonder what that supervisor would have done if it were a friend of his that needed to go.
Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog » Blog Archive » commute times
2 years ago
[...] us the actual mileage as well as their calculation of approximate driving time. On top of that, Google Transit is helpful in determining if HART might be a good [...]