(Source: Faster Forward blog – Washington Post)

Upgrading Transit’s Interface: Metro Releases Google Transit Data

This morning, Metro’s Web site has a new page with a title not normally seen on the online presences of transit agencies: “Developer Resources.”

Photo Courtesy: Mymetrostop@Flickr

That page offers a download of Metro’s bus and rail schedules inGoogle Transit Feed Specification format, ready for any developer to download and reuse in a Web page or in a standalone program. (At the moment, clicking through the user agreement on the page only sends you back to the user agreement, but I’m sure somebody at Metro will correct that soon enough. Right?)

 In doing this, Metro is following the example of a lot of smart Web sites — but too few government agencies — by letting the rest of the world re-use, re-publish and mash up its data. The immediate effect of a GTFS download may only be the addition of Metro rail and bus routes to thetransit guidance offered on Google Maps (assuming the Mountain View, Calif., Web firm doesn’t object to Metro’s terms of use). That alone should make Metro’s services far more “discoverable,” to use a little human-interface jargon. But when anybody else can play this game, the possibilities are wide open.

In the same way that Web developers have used Google Maps tools to build crafty sites charting everything from real-estate sales to campaign donations, people will be able to build Web sites, widgets and programs using Metro’s data in ways that the company hasn’t thought of and may never dream up on its own.

For a sense of the possibilities, look over this interview from last year, in which two managers in Portland, Oregon’s Tri-Met transit agency explain how independent developers and other government agencies are building useful software and services off their data feeds with minimal cost and effort.

(Source: NPR;  Photo Courtesy: Hans Splinter@ Flickr)

NPR.org, March 19, 2009 –  When I went to Europe, I loved to ride the trains, especially the French TGV and other high-speed trains. So President Obama’s goal of building high-speed rail in the United States sounded good at first.

Randal O'Toole is a Cato Institute Senior Fellow working on urban growth, public land and transportation issues. Courtesy of the Cato Institute

But when I looked at the details, I discovered that — while high-speed rail may be good for tourists — it isn’t working very well in Europe or Japan.

Japan and France have each spent as much per capita on high-speed rail as we spent on our Interstate Highway System. The average American travels 4,000 miles and ships 2,000 ton-miles per year on the interstates. Yet the average resident of Japan travels only 400 miles per year on bullet trains, while the average resident of France goes less than 300 miles per year on the TGV — and these rail lines carry virtually no freight.

Click here to read the entire “Opinion” of Mr. O’ Toole.  

Throughout the world and throughout history, passenger trains have been used mainly by a wealthy elite and have never given the average people of any nation as much mobility as our interstate highways.

(Source: USA TODAY)

The number of people riding buses and trains hit a 52-year high in 2008 as skyrocketing gas prices and a faltering economy pushed riders toward less expensive travel. 

 Public transit ridership last year increased 4% to 10.7 billion rides, according to a report released Monday by the American Public Transportation Association.

PUBLIC TRANSIT: Usage rises from 2007

The outlook is gloomy, though. Ridership growth in the fourth quarter slowed as more commuters lost their jobs and budget shortfalls pushed transit systems to reduce service or raise fares.

The number of rides from October through December increased 2% to 2.7 billion compared with the same period a year earlier.

Unemployment reached a 25-year high of 8% in February, the government reported Friday.

The more it rises, the more ridership will shrink, says William Millar, the association’s president.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The numerous safety violations that contributed to a deadly train crash in California last year have some federal officials asking whether the crash was an isolated incident or part of a more widespread problem, particularly with cell phone use by crew members.

A National Transportation Safety Board panel held a second day of hearings Wednesday concerning the crash that killed 25 people and injured at least 130. The crash occurred when a Metrolink passenger train failed to heed a red traffic signal and ended up on the same shared track with a Union Pacific freight train, officials said. The two trains collided head-on.

Federal investigators on Tuesday released the transcript of 43 text messages sent and received by the engineer of the Metrolink train, Robert Sanchez. The engineer also made four phone calls the day of the collision, federal records show.

Sanchez was killed in the crash.

Kitty Higgins, an NTSB board member, said that rules in place should have stopped Sanchez from using his cell phone while on duty. But inspections designed to deter cell phone use didn’t seem to have much effect because people change their behavior when they know they’re being watched.

“I think it’s very widespread,” Higgins said of cell phone use by train crews. “And I was not very impressed with the answer ‘we don’t know how to enforce this’ (ban). We know it’s an issue with the industry.”

She said that cell phone use has become part of everyday life, so dealing with the problem won’t be easy.

(Source: TreeHugger)

Image: New York Subway Map by Zero Per Zero

We like talking about promoting public transit here on Treehugger and at Planet Green, noting that cities and countries that get it right can create a very positive image that in turn steers more people towards leaving their car at home. So, I was happy to see Zero Per Zero, a Seoul-based design team, re-thinking railmaps and subway maps. Using bright colours and a big dose of humour, Kim Ji-Kwan and Jin Sol from Hongik University are now in Tokyo to display their work.

The maps come in a small folder with stickers for marking favorite spots, restaurants, appointments, hotel locations, and major attractions. When traveling, the folder can also be used to jot down notes and to hold transit passes, tickets, and more. Made of paper.

Click here to read the entire article, which has a couple of more cool pictures.