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I assume they (and/or lyft and google maps) will eventually do what google maps should already have in my opinion, a final option next to car/walking/bike/trans

I assume they (and/or lyft and google maps) will eventually do what google maps should already have in my opinion, a final option next to car/walking/bike/transit/taxi: "multi-modal". A lot of times the fastest way to get somewhere in LA is actually: walk to a scooter, scoot to the train, train to the closest stop, then uber to your final destination. But that isn't shown automatically and it's a lot of work to calculate it yourself.

kcorbitt 8y ago
I use Citymapper for this; have for years (https://citymapper.com/ https://citymapper.com/). It does exactly what you're asking for. I too am surprised that Google hasn't eaten their lunch by baking this into Google Maps.
- petra 8y ago
  I suspect that curating accurate transit data is a lot of boring, never ending work, and on the other hand, Google don't think they will have big enough money there(without building something like UBER, not their style), so they don't bother.
  - yen223 8y ago
    Google Maps already has realtime transit information for Sydney (and I suspect, any other transit system which offers Google Transit APIs). The cool thing is that for Sydney, the same APIs are available to the public: https://opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au/dataset/public-transport-timetables-realtime https://opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au/dataset/public-transpo...
    - petra 8y ago
      Sure. but compared to their competitors, they're really slow.
  - askvictor 8y ago
    Google built an API/data standard to standardise this type of data, exactly to solve this problem.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- zhoujianfu 8y ago
  Oh, I hadn’t seen that! But hmm, it doesn’t seem to have jump bikes/scooters, Lyft scooters, bird, or lime in the scooters section, and again there’s no multi-mode.. it just shows walking/biking/Uber/public transit but not a combination of them. It does have a jet pack option which is nice and forward thinking! :)
  - kcorbitt 8y ago
    I get multi-mode suggestions all the time, although the precise mix of options it suggests does depend on the points you're looking to travel between. Not sure about their scooter coverage though; I don't use it for that.
  - andreasklinger 8y ago
    citymapper has scooters/bikes and multi-mode actually it's famous for the second one
BHSPitMonkey 8y ago
Google Maps announced this back in October: > Drive , walk and ride : support for mixed-mode commutes > There’s a new feature for people whose commutes involve both driving and public transit. You can see helpful information about when to leave, and for each leg of your trip: you’ll know if there’s traffic on your drive, when the next train departs, and how long it’ll take to walk from the train station to the office. We do the work for you and automatically factor this into your ETA so you can anticipate exactly when you’ll get to work. https://www.blog.google/products/maps/take-control-your-commute-google-maps/ https://www.blog.google/products/maps/take-control-your-comm...
- pofilat 8y ago
  Caveat: That feature only works if you pay with enhanced access to your (unrelated) data, by enabling Web and App Activity tracking/logging.
  - dannyw 8y ago
    This is completely absurd and should be grounds for a GDPR complaint for any EU friends. Wonder if that’s why this is US only.
  - bfred_it 8y ago
    I recently flushed years of Google history but I kept the tracking enabled. I’ll keep flushing it regularly and you could do the same. I don’t really care that they track me for a short time, it’s not like they don’t keep logs anyway.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- zhoujianfu 8y ago
  Hmm, I just tried this but it makes you choose your mode of transit. One option is “car and public transit” but then when I tried it it had me walking 17 minutes to a bus to a train station. For a total of 81 minutes right now (when just driving would be 30). Also they’re not taking scooters into account it seems, or the ability to take an Uber from a train station..
stu_k 8y ago
Citymapper[1] will do that to a certain extent and it’s pretty good, especially with docked bikes. I wish I could tell it I like walking more than catching a connecting bus, so I’m occasionally working on a side project to allow custom routes for common commutes. [1] https://citymapper.com https://citymapper.com

kcorbitt 8y ago

I use Citymapper for this; have for years (https://citymapper.com/ https://citymapper.com/). It does exactly what you're asking for. I too am surprised that Google hasn't eaten their lunch by baking this into Google Maps.

petra 8y ago
I suspect that curating accurate transit data is a lot of boring, never ending work, and on the other hand, Google don't think they will have big enough money there(without building something like UBER, not their style), so they don't bother.
- yen223 8y ago
  Google Maps already has realtime transit information for Sydney (and I suspect, any other transit system which offers Google Transit APIs). The cool thing is that for Sydney, the same APIs are available to the public: https://opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au/dataset/public-transport-timetables-realtime https://opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au/dataset/public-transpo...
  - petra 8y ago
    Sure. but compared to their competitors, they're really slow.
- askvictor 8y ago
  Google built an API/data standard to standardise this type of data, exactly to solve this problem.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
zhoujianfu 8y ago
Oh, I hadn’t seen that! But hmm, it doesn’t seem to have jump bikes/scooters, Lyft scooters, bird, or lime in the scooters section, and again there’s no multi-mode.. it just shows walking/biking/Uber/public transit but not a combination of them. It does have a jet pack option which is nice and forward thinking! :)
- kcorbitt 8y ago
  I get multi-mode suggestions all the time, although the precise mix of options it suggests does depend on the points you're looking to travel between. Not sure about their scooter coverage though; I don't use it for that.
- andreasklinger 8y ago
  citymapper has scooters/bikes and multi-mode actually it's famous for the second one

BHSPitMonkey 8y ago

Google Maps announced this back in October: > Drive , walk and ride : support for mixed-mode commutes > There’s a new feature for people whose commutes involve both driving and public transit. You can see helpful information about when to leave, and for each leg of your trip: you’ll know if there’s traffic on your drive, when the next train departs, and how long it’ll take to walk from the train station to the office. We do the work for you and automatically factor this into your ETA so you can anticipate exactly when you’ll get to work. https://www.blog.google/products/maps/take-control-your-commute-google-maps/ https://www.blog.google/products/maps/take-control-your-comm...

pofilat 8y ago
Caveat: That feature only works if you pay with enhanced access to your (unrelated) data, by enabling Web and App Activity tracking/logging.
- dannyw 8y ago
  This is completely absurd and should be grounds for a GDPR complaint for any EU friends. Wonder if that’s why this is US only.
- bfred_it 8y ago
  I recently flushed years of Google history but I kept the tracking enabled. I’ll keep flushing it regularly and you could do the same. I don’t really care that they track me for a short time, it’s not like they don’t keep logs anyway.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
zhoujianfu 8y ago
Hmm, I just tried this but it makes you choose your mode of transit. One option is “car and public transit” but then when I tried it it had me walking 17 minutes to a bus to a train station. For a total of 81 minutes right now (when just driving would be 30). Also they’re not taking scooters into account it seems, or the ability to take an Uber from a train station..

stu_k 8y ago

Citymapper[1] will do that to a certain extent and it’s pretty good, especially with docked bikes. I wish I could tell it I like walking more than catching a connecting bus, so I’m occasionally working on a side project to allow custom routes for common commutes. [1] https://citymapper.com https://citymapper.com