Although the TTC has received some good reviews for its slick new website (still in beta), some fans were disappointed by what the site did not include. Among the items on passengers’ wish list: a trip planner, and a means of seeing when the next bus would be at a stop at real time.
Enter the folks at myTTC.ca, who have produced a slick website of their own. While it isn’t as detailed as the TTC’s official website, it has one feature the TTC’s site lacks: a trip planner. I tried it out yesterday and it quickly provided me a route between my old home at 214 McCaul Street and the corner of Finch and Morningside (walk to College and McCaul, take 506 Carlton to Main Street station, take the subway and RT to Scarborough Centre, take 129 McCowan North to Finch, 39D to Nielsen and walk the rest of the way). The instructions might not be what I picked, but a computer picked them. That means that the work is possible, and it was completed by individuals who were working for the love of their community, rather than for any tender.
The trip planner is offline today, likely due to high traffic, thanks to links from this website and Torontoist, which tells you something else: how much demand there is for this type of service.
The TTC should investigate this technology and see if it can be added to their official website, and scaled up. I recommend hiring the people at myTTC.ca to help.