[sustran] multi-modal urban webmapping project

[Craig August Johnson]

Hey all,
Sorry for the multiple posting

I was just wondering if anyone has come across a webmapping site like
google map or mapquest or a program that uses GIS technology to compare
cost and time of multi-modal transportation routes in an urban
environment.
While many of these programs are becoming very adept at routing and
providing time/cost data for trips that are sole auto based trips.
No program that I have found allows one to compare multi-modal transit trips.

For example if someone wanted to get from their house to work-- this
program would be able to give a set of transport options such as

walking
biking
biking-bus-walking
walking-sub-bus-walk
car
walking-car
(the options could seemingly be endless)

and then the program would be able to rank each of these options by cost,
time, or perhaps even convenience (sort of like websites do that are
devoted to booking airline tickets)

i was thinking that a type of program like that(especially in cities like
New York with high number of transit options) could provide very useful
information for users, policymakers, and city planners that hopefully
would better support the use of sustainable transit alternatives in urban
environment.

i think the GIS routing technology is there. The mass-transit route
schedules and fares for an urban city are usually widely available, but i
have never seen such a GIS webmapping trip-finder program specifically
linked to a complete mass transit network database.

Any thoughts?

Craig Johnson