Memphians have longed used Google for finding information, images, and maps. Now, through a collaboration between MATA and Google Transit, they can use it to find local bus routes.
"Google Transit is a trip planning program that Google provides that integrates with their Google map program," says Tim Moreland, a member of the Sustainable Shelby initiative and a planner with the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). "Anytime you get directions on Google maps, you can click to get directions by car, by transit, or by walking, and you can see how long it will take to get there by each way."
MATA had an existing trip planner, but Moreland had heard about Google Transit — which is available in places such as Denver, Miami, Chicago, Austin, and New York — and thought it would be good for the city.
"I had used the MATA trip planner, but I really liked the interface of Google Transit. It's much slicker; it's more intuitive," Moreland says.
MATA just had to provide Google with their data and routing information. The service is free and currently online.
"Since it's Google, you get to use their database. When you create your own trip planner, you don't have an index of where different businesses are," Moreland says. "With Google, you can do simple searches like 'I want to go from the FedExForum to the Flying Saucer."
Google Transit can also be used on smart phones, so that people already out and about can use it to find their transit options. Both the MPO and MATA say they are interested in increasing ridership on public transit.
"This is really simple," Moreland says. "The hope is that this will make it easier for existing riders to use MATA, but also make it easier for visitors and choice riders. They can get online and see what's available."
For a quick tutorial from Moreland, click here.
(Hat tip to Smart City!)
Showing posts with label mata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mata. Show all posts
Friday, December 19, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
More Farr Side
When Sustainable Urbanism author Doug Farr spoke at the Sustainable Tennessee Regional Opportunity Forum last weekend, he traced the streetcar back to early electric companies looking for a way to use excess electric capacity during the daytime.
Of course, most of the trolleys and streetcar systems now are financed by the federal government (tho Portland, Oregon, is a notable exception; that system was paid for locally).
"Once you federalize it, innovation goes out and overhead comes in," Farr said.
More importantly, for the book, he asked about the density needed to support transit systems and was told that "density is old think."
Instead of looking at population density, transit lines are now planned around nodes: the university area, downtown, the airport.
It's more connect-the-dots than connect-the-people.
Farr's discussion reminded me of our own Madison Avenue line, which links the medical district to downtown ... and judging by the ridership, didn't seem to take into account whether people wanted/needed to ride from the medical district to downtown and vice versa.
And the proposed airport extension is just another node.
I link to this cover story quite a bit, but I'm going to excerpt a bit here:
"It's little wonder that light rail has generated so little excitement. The airport-downtown line would serve only a small fraction of the residents of greater Memphis, a low-density metro area of more than 300 square miles. The train trip would take 29 minutes from beginning to end and make 10 stops. A car can make it in less than 15 minutes. Most customers would have to drive their cars to a light-rail station. ...
"With the uncertainties of $4.52 gas, tight budgets, and a declining Memphis population, the grand vision of a light-rail line from downtown to the airport is by no means a sure thing. Nor does it necessarily make sense.
Of course, most of the trolleys and streetcar systems now are financed by the federal government (tho Portland, Oregon, is a notable exception; that system was paid for locally).
"Once you federalize it, innovation goes out and overhead comes in," Farr said.
More importantly, for the book, he asked about the density needed to support transit systems and was told that "density is old think."
Instead of looking at population density, transit lines are now planned around nodes: the university area, downtown, the airport.
It's more connect-the-dots than connect-the-people.
Farr's discussion reminded me of our own Madison Avenue line, which links the medical district to downtown ... and judging by the ridership, didn't seem to take into account whether people wanted/needed to ride from the medical district to downtown and vice versa.
And the proposed airport extension is just another node.
I link to this cover story quite a bit, but I'm going to excerpt a bit here:
"It's little wonder that light rail has generated so little excitement. The airport-downtown line would serve only a small fraction of the residents of greater Memphis, a low-density metro area of more than 300 square miles. The train trip would take 29 minutes from beginning to end and make 10 stops. A car can make it in less than 15 minutes. Most customers would have to drive their cars to a light-rail station. ...
"With the uncertainties of $4.52 gas, tight budgets, and a declining Memphis population, the grand vision of a light-rail line from downtown to the airport is by no means a sure thing. Nor does it necessarily make sense.
'Memphis is not a high-density market, so it's pretty difficult to make the numbers work, but I don't want to prejudge them,' says Larry Cox, head of the Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority.
The project is premised on easing traffic congestion, improving neighborhoods, and sparking development near the rail line. Connection to the FedEx sorting hub is also thrown out occasionally, but suffice it to say that if FedEx, with 35,000 area employees, really wanted a light-rail line, it would be well under way by now.
The other rationales can be easily debunked. Traffic congestion was eased by widening Interstate 240 and the Midtown interchange. It will be further reduced if people drive only when they have to. Except for a fledgling neighborhood called the Edge, Madison Avenue looks even more desolate since the trolley line was built. Ironically, the one big-bucks development MATA might have partially claimed credit for is off the line. In 2006, MATA's board killed the so-called Fairgrounds Alternative and shifted the proposed airport line from Midtown and East Parkway to Lamar and Airways. A year later, developers secured more than $100 million in state Tourism Development Zone funds for the fairgrounds."
(See? I said there would be more on Doug Farr later and here it is. I'm a woman of my word — well, I try, anyway.)Friday, August 15, 2008
MATA v. MCS
Usually I don't do this, but after I read Friday's story in the Commercial Appeal about MATA having a problem with unruly MCS students at its downtown hub, I was a little perplexed.
A MATA road supervisor apparently ordered several MCS students off a bus, saying they couldn't go to the North End terminal and would have to find an alternate route. MATA representatives had also sent a letter to area schools saying the MCS students were not allowed at the MATA terminal after school because of safety and security concerns.
I'm sympathetic to MATA and its more mature customers' concerns, to a point. Large groups of teenagers anywhere can become loud, unruly, rude, and intimidating.
But if you have a system that filters almost everybody through a central hub, that means teenage riders are going to be filtered through that central hub, too. If you have a system that concentrates people at a central destination, you have to expect that people will concentrate at a central destination.
And under MATA's system, the direct bus route is almost unheard of.
A short trip from Midtown to downtown often means a transfer at the downtown hub.
A trip from Germantown proper to Wolfchase Galleria mall sometimes means a transfer at the downtown hub.
So in my mind, MATA's partly to blame. I'm not saying that all the students are behaving themselves, or getting on the earliest bus they can, but my guess is the reason they're at the downtown terminal in the first place is because they're waiting for a bus.
(Why else would anyone want to go there?)
Not to mention that you can't bar a group of people from using a public service. Luckily MATA seems to realize this. In reporter Jody Callahan's story, MATA spokesperson Alison Burton was quoted as saying that MATA could not prohibit students from using the terminal.
Earlier this year, I collaborated with my colleague John Branston on a story about MATA and how it was handling the opportunity of rising fuel costs. You can read that story here.
But this latest information calls into question something that I continue to wonder about: Who does MATA's system work for?
It doesn't seem to work for people who have other means of transportation, but who might want to take public transit.
I had heard it was designed to get Memphis' working poor to their jobs, but that recently was called into question.
And it doesn't seem to work for students.
Who's left?
And before you answer MATA management, I've heard it doesn't work for them, either.
A MATA road supervisor apparently ordered several MCS students off a bus, saying they couldn't go to the North End terminal and would have to find an alternate route. MATA representatives had also sent a letter to area schools saying the MCS students were not allowed at the MATA terminal after school because of safety and security concerns.
I'm sympathetic to MATA and its more mature customers' concerns, to a point. Large groups of teenagers anywhere can become loud, unruly, rude, and intimidating.
But if you have a system that filters almost everybody through a central hub, that means teenage riders are going to be filtered through that central hub, too. If you have a system that concentrates people at a central destination, you have to expect that people will concentrate at a central destination.
And under MATA's system, the direct bus route is almost unheard of.
A short trip from Midtown to downtown often means a transfer at the downtown hub.
A trip from Germantown proper to Wolfchase Galleria mall sometimes means a transfer at the downtown hub.
So in my mind, MATA's partly to blame. I'm not saying that all the students are behaving themselves, or getting on the earliest bus they can, but my guess is the reason they're at the downtown terminal in the first place is because they're waiting for a bus.
(Why else would anyone want to go there?)
Not to mention that you can't bar a group of people from using a public service. Luckily MATA seems to realize this. In reporter Jody Callahan's story, MATA spokesperson Alison Burton was quoted as saying that MATA could not prohibit students from using the terminal.
Earlier this year, I collaborated with my colleague John Branston on a story about MATA and how it was handling the opportunity of rising fuel costs. You can read that story here.
But this latest information calls into question something that I continue to wonder about: Who does MATA's system work for?
It doesn't seem to work for people who have other means of transportation, but who might want to take public transit.
I had heard it was designed to get Memphis' working poor to their jobs, but that recently was called into question.
And it doesn't seem to work for students.
Who's left?
And before you answer MATA management, I've heard it doesn't work for them, either.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Fair Bus Fares
Johnnie Mosley says he's been riding the bus for "a looong time."
Mosley founded Citizens for Better Service, a MATA watchdog group, in 1993.
"At the time, MATA had a proposal to increase bus fares and decrease routes," he says. "A group of us riders thought it would be best to form a group to speak for the concerns of bus riders."
Though they speak out any time MATA proposed to increase fares or cut routes, Mosley says the group also deals with complaints against bus drivers. Though MATA has a complaint line, riders don't always feel they have been heard when they use it.
"MATA has some good bus drivers, but occasionally drivers won't even answer a simple question," Mosley says. "Once my group becomes aware of their complaints, we'll take their concerns directly to [Will] Hudson."
With higher gas prices — MATA's next gas contract will charge them $4.52 a gallon versus the current $2.87 — Mosley is worried that the transit company will once again try to raise fares or cut services. He would like to see them increase services instead.
"There are some areas of town where, if you miss one bus, you may have to wait another hour, an hour and a half for the next one. That's terrible," he says. "The more people see buses running in their neighborhoods, the more likely they are to get on one."
"If push comes to shove and they have to cut routes and increase fares, we want to make sure that it's fair and equitable," Mosley says.
To reach Citizens for Better Service, call Mosley at 789.6463.
Mosley founded Citizens for Better Service, a MATA watchdog group, in 1993.
"At the time, MATA had a proposal to increase bus fares and decrease routes," he says. "A group of us riders thought it would be best to form a group to speak for the concerns of bus riders."
Though they speak out any time MATA proposed to increase fares or cut routes, Mosley says the group also deals with complaints against bus drivers. Though MATA has a complaint line, riders don't always feel they have been heard when they use it.
"MATA has some good bus drivers, but occasionally drivers won't even answer a simple question," Mosley says. "Once my group becomes aware of their complaints, we'll take their concerns directly to [Will] Hudson."
With higher gas prices — MATA's next gas contract will charge them $4.52 a gallon versus the current $2.87 — Mosley is worried that the transit company will once again try to raise fares or cut services. He would like to see them increase services instead.
"There are some areas of town where, if you miss one bus, you may have to wait another hour, an hour and a half for the next one. That's terrible," he says. "The more people see buses running in their neighborhoods, the more likely they are to get on one."
"If push comes to shove and they have to cut routes and increase fares, we want to make sure that it's fair and equitable," Mosley says.
To reach Citizens for Better Service, call Mosley at 789.6463.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
MATA Misses its Moment?
After this week's Flyer cover story about public transit in Memphis, we received an interesting email from Johnnie Mosley, founder and chairman of the public advocacy group Citizens for Better Service.
Citizens, which was founded in 1993, is a MATA watchdog and tries to make sure that bus riders are treated fairly. In 2000, the group opposed a MATA rate hike, saying that the transit authority should cut administrative expenses before raising fares.
Mosley had this, in part, to say in response to the story:
"I was warned by Mr. Hudson that this was a bad time for mass transit, expecially MATA some time ago. My response to Mr. Hudson was that this is the best time to implement creative ways to get new rider on the bus and things like an increase in fares and cutting service should be a last, not first resort."
"If MATA would take the time to look at the routes and find ways to increase routes, instead of cutting routes, it would send a strong message that MATA is serious about getting and keeping new passengers. If you talk to people who do not ride public transportation ... they will tell you that they would like to ride a bus but the buses do not fit in their schedule. In other words, if MATA finds a way to get the buses in their daily schedule so they could get to their destinations in 25 minutes instead of 2 hours, they would park their cars."
Mosley concluded by saying that Citizens for Better Service had been bringing up similar issues for the past 15 years and they would continue watching the transit authority as it deals with "what you called 'MATA's Moment of Truth.'"
Citizens, which was founded in 1993, is a MATA watchdog and tries to make sure that bus riders are treated fairly. In 2000, the group opposed a MATA rate hike, saying that the transit authority should cut administrative expenses before raising fares.
Mosley had this, in part, to say in response to the story:
"I was warned by Mr. Hudson that this was a bad time for mass transit, expecially MATA some time ago. My response to Mr. Hudson was that this is the best time to implement creative ways to get new rider on the bus and things like an increase in fares and cutting service should be a last, not first resort."
"If MATA would take the time to look at the routes and find ways to increase routes, instead of cutting routes, it would send a strong message that MATA is serious about getting and keeping new passengers. If you talk to people who do not ride public transportation ... they will tell you that they would like to ride a bus but the buses do not fit in their schedule. In other words, if MATA finds a way to get the buses in their daily schedule so they could get to their destinations in 25 minutes instead of 2 hours, they would park their cars."
Mosley concluded by saying that Citizens for Better Service had been bringing up similar issues for the past 15 years and they would continue watching the transit authority as it deals with "what you called 'MATA's Moment of Truth.'"
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