Inside PBS Blog

Sometimes, you can't get there from here - especially on public transportation. But a group of tech savvy commuters in San Francisco is enlisting the help of the Web and social media to make it easier to plan bus, train, subway, and ferry trips in the area. The Bay Area's transit agencies already have Web sites that provide extensive schedule information and service updates.

But many commuters have found the agency-run sites difficult to navigate and anything but intuitive. Try picking out the right train amidst the jumble of schedules and station locations spread out over several websites and you're pretty much guaranteed to miss your train altogether.

One recently launched site, known as I Am Caltrain, uses mashup technology to make transit information more intuitive. The site integrates the schedule of Caltrain, the regional commuter train, with an interactive Yahoo map. The mashup lets users click on a station to find when the next trains are scheduled to arrive; another click shows users how best to get from one station to another. Another site, Bart Barely Connected, tackles the Bay Area's subway system, known as BART, with Web 2.0 technology. The site mashes the subway schedule with a clickable Google map of the region.

The site's creator, Jeffrey Baker, says he was inspired after being frustrated by "the maddening maze" of the transit agency's official website.  "I don't need a trip planner or to read that agency's latest press release," says Baker.  "All I need to know are: When is the train coming?" The new transit sites aim to take some of the pain out of the daily commute, even providing some laughs along the way. On the I Am Caltrain site, if there is no service along a route designated by the user, this comforting message pops up:  "Sucks to be you."

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