St. Albert Transit users can now plan their trips almost anywhere in the Capital region in a matter of seconds, thanks to Google.
The city announced Wednesday that it had officially integrated its scheduling and route data for St. Albert Transit with the online search engine, meaning users now only have to know their start and end points and time they wish to travel and, within seconds, can find out the exact bus they have to take, including transfer information and walking distances.
“What we have here now through Google Transit is a tool for people to plan their own trips on their own time,” said Bob McDonald, director of St. Albert Transit.
“It gives them the freedom to plan their own trips.”
McDonald described the transition to online trip planning as the evolution of a process in making it easier for riders to use transit. In 2009 the department had budgeted $35,000 to develop its own similar system, but scrubbed it when they realized Google offered the same service at no cost.
“We opted for this option which provides this service at really no cost to the city with the exception of our time to input the information,” McDonald said. The city also had to purchase a new software program and specifically map out all its bus stops and bus routes.
But Google Transit covers more than just St. Albert. Residents who use St. Albert Transit to commute to work in Edmonton can use it, as can anyone who wants to plan a trip to anywhere in Edmonton. Other contractors that are a part of the system are Spruce Grove, Leduc and the base at Namao.
“All those are also on this same platform so you can plan trips to and from these locations,” McDonald said.
What big cities like Montreal were spending millions of dollars 10 years ago to develop themselves is now available to St. Albertans at a cost of less than $10,000, he said.
“All of the things our transit people are doing and city staff are doing are ultimately intended to provide leadership in the region,” said Mayor Nolan Crouse. “It’s making sure the user has access to all the information possible without having to phone somebody.”
The Google Transit Trip Planner is also available as an app for most mobile devices and can be downloaded at www.ridestat.ca. Computer users can also visit the same address to access the planner directly.
The tool also frees up time for staff that used to have to spend 10 to 15 minutes on the phone with users trying to plan more complicated trips.
“I have to take my map and see what buses go there and work it back, and then I have to look at their scheduling book and our scheduling book and try to match up the system so you don’t have to wait too long in one place,” said Dawn Fedorvich, St. Albert Transit’s co-ordinator of customer service.
St. Albert Transit also offers its NextBus service, which provides real-time data for specific bus stops in St. Albert. In the future, McDonald says Google wants to add real-time trip planning through Google Transit, which the department would also like to use.
