Hip hip hooray! The much talked about and anticipated Google Transit was launched over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Now, individuals can plan their SLO Transit bus trip Transit online at rideshare.org. Directions are quick and easy. Google Transit shows users where to pick up the bus, which route, where the route takes you and a timeline of your trip. Rideshare is ecstatic about this service, as it makes leaving a car behind much easier for residents of San Luis Obispo.
I encourage you to try the service out for yourself. Next time, instead of driving, try using SLO Transit and plan your trip online. If you find quirks, please let us know. Rideshare will be acting as the ‘quarterback’ on this project, taking user comments and correcting data.
I’d like to give a special shout out to Bob Heitzman from APCD for putting in extra time to make this happen and also to Jessica Berry at SLOCOG, our consultant Marcy Jaffe and the team from SLO Transit. Awesome job team!
So, what’s next? Great question. We realize that this service cannot reach its fullest potential without involvement from all of the fixed route transit operators in the county. Therefore, it’s time to get RTA, SCAT, PR Express and North County Shuttle onboard. If we get all of these agencies involved, an individual will be able to plan a trip across the county without looking at several different paper schedules and calculating transfer times. We’re talking about removing one of the number one barriers that hinder people from using transit. We also want to make sure that residents outside of the City of San Luis Obispo have the same ease of online trip planning.
Until then, give Google Transit a try and let us know what you think.
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