Google Maps API v3 now allows you to add the Bike route layer and traffic layer via the API, but there still isn’t an easy way to get at the transit layer.

To add the Bike layer:

To add the Traffic layer:

However, you can use the code below to add the Google Transit layer it as a custom tile layer. This will load the image tiles directly from Google’s servers:

This loads the full image types, so any other styles you’ve applied to the basemap will get covered up. Unlike Google Transit, the stations won’t be clickable and transit info won’t pop up unless you add your own markers to the map, but this should work ok for just showing transit routes.

You can see this technique live in our Realtime Transit Map project (also on github).

A GTFS file is an open specification that allows a transit agencies schedule and route information to be used by developers in a variety of applications. One of the most popular applications that uses GTFS data is Google Map’s Transit Trip Planner. County Connection’s routes are now available on google maps website and on smartphones that have google maps available. Also, the transit data is now open for developers to incorporate into their apps. Examples of transit apps include Routesy, Bay Tripper and Anystop

See a sample trip on google transit: Walnut Creek, CA to Alamo, CA
Get raw GTFS file: CCCTA GTFS on GTFA Data Exchange

However, there currently isn’t a way to get display the transit or bike map layer. However, Google Maps allows you to create your own tile layer and load in into the map. It’s not too difficult to create your own custom tile layer and actually refer to the actual bike map or transit map tiles and load them directly from Google.

The URL template you need for getting bike maps is:

http://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=m@121,bike&hl=en&x={X}&y={Y}&z={Z}

and for transit maps:

http://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=m@121,transit|vm:1&hl=en&opts=r&x={X}&y={Y}&z={Z}

To create your own tile layer, use one of the URL templates above:

function initialize() {
  var map = new GMap2(document.getElementById("map_canvas"));
  map.setCenter(new GLatLng(37.880002, -122.189941), 11);

  //Create new Tile Layer
  var gTileUrlTemplate = 'http://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=m@121,bike&hl=en&x={X}&y={Y}&z={Z}';
  var tileLayerOverlay = new GTileLayerOverlay(
    new GTileLayer(null, null, null, {
      tileUrlTemplate: gTileUrlTemplate,
      isPng:true,
      opacity:0.8
    })
  );
  map.addOverlay(tileLayerOverlay);
  }

These URLs could change at any time, so there is no guarantee that this won’t break. You can see this in action at whereisbart.com

View the documentation & data on MUNIs site.

Update: SFist wrote a followup article about us and our bus.

Blnktag just pimped its ride!

What’s even sweeter is that we figured every hipster with $10,000 bucks would have bid on this guy, thanks to SFist.  But I guess the down economy has come to our rescue once again.

Burning Man, here we come. (We’ll probably pull this to South By Southwest too, depending on its roadworthyness)

The stats:
1984 articulated MAN
Make: MAN Company Website
Model: SG310-18-3A
Serial:EC720800
Fleet #: 6090 SF. Muni
Engine: MAN pancake
Fuel: diesel
Transmission: 3 sp. Allison auto.
Registration: non op.
Top speed: 55 mph.
Starter: pneumatic
Tires: 50% or better
Length: 60 ft.
Width: 102 in.
Seating: 55

It was in the newer version of “The Italian Job” and at least one Nelly music video. It was mentioned in the IMDB “goofs” section for The Italian Job:

Factual errors: When Charlie is confronted by Steve in the helicopter under the freeway, the buses in the background are MUNI buses. The movie takes place in Los Angeles; MUNI is the public transportation in San Francisco.

So this might be kind of a gray area terms-of-service-wise, so do what you want with it. But if you’ve ever wondered how to mashup the Google Transit layer with your custom map, here’s how.

While we aren’t advocating anybody actually do this, we’ve heard from a *confidential* source that Google implements new feature requests in rough proportion to the number of people who hack together stuff like this. Just saying . . . .

SF Cityscape has lots of other neat maps including one of existing and proposed streetcar lines in New Orleans.Technorati Tags: maps, transit, bart, san francisco, new orleans

In the case of San Franciso Muni, they claim to own the data and also the desire for the public to access that. A Muni representative even mentioned that they want to provide their real time arrival data in an easy to access format.

Unfortunately, the data is collected by Nextbus and a completely separate company confusingly named Nextbus Information Systems claims to own the data and offers it for a modest fee of “tens of thousands of dollars per month” to any independent developers who might want to build applications using it. There seems to be a real disagreement between Muni, Nextbus, and Nextbus Information Systems about who owns real time transit data and how developers should or shouldn’t be able to access the data.

Instead of letting us see when our buses are coming, NBIS locked the arrival times in an imaginary vending machine. This would be like if advertising giant Clear Channel waltzed into the subway stations, tore down all the Muni maps, and then offered to sell them back to you at a steep markup.

NextBus Information Systems was responsible for shutting down the Routesy iphone application and apparently keeps close tabs on who is scraping data from the nextbus site for their own applications and then tries to shut them down. The threat of having to pay for expensive licenses has made us at BlinkTag focus our development efforts around BART and Trimet, both of which provide easy to access, developer friendly real time data. I wonder how many other apps have been shutdown or scrapped before launch. Are there other cities that have realtime data that is available online but not available for developers to use?

Translink is a “one-card to rule them all” approach to replace the existing system monthly passes, paper tickets, magnetic strips and exact change. The system was proposed back in 1993, and and is currently in place for AC Transit, MUNI, and Golden Gate. Twenty-Eight transit systems each with their own schedules, fares and terminology for passes (Eco Pass, EZRider, Fast Pass, etc) doesn’t really make riding transit easier.

Recently, BART hinted that they might be ready to roll out TransLink as soon as a year from now, which would put that in mid-2010. London’s had a system-wide Oyster Card in 2003 and Hong Kong’s Octopus Card launched to the public in 1997.

Lawsuits and vendor issues have stalled BARTs adoption of Translink, and it seems like the recent launch BARTs own EZRider smart card will only serve to confuse riders. Recently, the issue of fare revenue “float” has led to the establishment of a BART specific “e-purse”. (Will I need an “e-purse” to ride “E-BART“)

Hopefully BART will get TransLink rolled out by the Oyster Cards 10 year anniversary and before the next siginificant fare payment technology replaces RFID. Rumors are flying around that a “Soft launch” of TransLink on BART may happen soon, meaning it might just start working without them telling anyone about it.. We’ll post an update here with our results if this happens.

To our loyal blog readers – this isn’t quite ready for production, but I wanted to explore BART’s new open data feed and do something fun.

Comments, thoughts, appreciated. A few known issues:

We’re still working on getting the real time feed up. Soon.

The design isn’t great. We’ll be rolling out new ways to visualize the data soon, and include an extra layer showing stations.

Apple may be known for its advertising prowess, but this little marketing coup is going to go down as one of the most hilarious ad placements in recent history. doubleTwist, the company co-founded by renowned software reverse engineer DVD Jon, has managed to place a banner for its product directly next to the main entrance to Apple’s flagship San Francisco store.
Read the rest on TechCrunch

In San Francisco, there is a BART entrance right below Apple’s flagship store. Its one of the more urban BART station entrances, it reminds me more of something you’d see in New York or London than SF with most stations having entrances in the middle of the sidewalk instead of embedded into a building.

Apparently, the window of this BART entrance hasn’t been used before for advertising, but with buget cuts, I’d imagine transit agencies are looking for new sources of revenue and every surface is a potential ad space. This space must be particularly valuable and I find it very impressive that the first ad that got put there was for a product that will allow moving of an itunes library to a non-apple device.

The ad is well done and blends nicely with the Apple store, i wonder how many Union Square shoppers will visit doubletwist.com thinking it has been sanctioned by Apple.

Maybe spreading common sense ideas and stating the obvious is a way for San Francisco’s most widely read fishwrapper to avoid the fate of other dailies, but I guess it’s good that they finally figured it out:

MAYBE HAVING 26 TRANSIT AGENCIES IS BAD FOR BAY AREA COMMUTERS. Like, duh.

Sarcasm aside, turns out that MTC is making noise about actually fixing the problems of route overlap, uncoordinated planning, and general inefficiency in our public transportation network. Maybe the new plans will work better than Translink did. One can hope.

Paris

New York

London

San Francisco BART

See many more at Fakeisthenewreal.com.

I’m not really sure what that line is heading down Market St diagonally in the western section of the BART map, but either way it appears to be larger than all of the others. I wonder what all of these maps would look like if you included commuter rail lines as well.

Thanks to the Transportationist for pointing these out.

According to this story, a bunch of nerds at MIT found security vulnerabilities in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)’s sort-of new fare card system, and were almost sued for daring to talk about it at a convention in Las Vegas. But like the good little engineers they are, they decided to cooperate with authorities and work to make the system better instead. I wonder what a bunch of Harvard kids would have done in the same situation?

Also, this is cool – did I mention I love PBS?