Bay Area Traffic - Mobile Tips!

A lot of people have been talking about how the recent damage to off-ramps from the San Francisco Bay Bridge will make traffic in the Bay Area even uglier during the next few months. I commute by car every day during the work week and probably should have been looking for alternatives sooner, so with the traffic delays I have experienced over the past couple days (30+ minutes in addition to my hour commute), I started looking into other options. I am sure for some it might not have any effect at all or it will be a minor inconvenience, but for others like me it could mean significant changes in how you get from point A to point B. Regardless, I thought it would be nice to provide a few ways on how the Treo and other mobile devices might make commuting a little easier during the next few months.

For those who plan to take mass transit more frequently and avoid the roadways as much as possible check out:

--BART Quick Planner (http://www.bart.gov/stations/quickplanner/pda.asp) - provides quick tips on addresses, fares, stations, transfer details and more

--Caltrain+ (http://www.wrafra.net/software/Caltrain/#CurVer) - allows you to check schedules and fares for the Peninsula

If you decide to brave the roads you can try GoogleMaps, which gives you the latest traffic conditions and also turn-by-turn directions in case you are trying out new routes.

You can also check out public transit and road traffic sites that have been optimized for use on mobile devices. Here are a couple:

--HopStop (http://hopstop.com/) - allows you to send directions by e-mail or text message to your mobile device directly from its site, so you can plan a trip with mul tiple destinations. You can also open HopStop up on your web-enabled mobile device, it will recognize that it's a mobile device and put directions into a digestible format for getting to and from the nearest subway stop.

--SigAlert (www.sigalert.com) - allows California drivers to view traffic from their mobile device with real-time, personalized traffic reports.

If you are interested in applications that provide more features and don't mind paying a little for it check these out:

--Telenav (http://www.telenav.com/products/tn/) - provides traffic updates every five minutes and re-routing instructions to navigate traffic accidents and slowdowns.

--Traffic for Treo (http://www.palm.com/us/software/traffic/) - provides details on traffic incidents--accidents, construction, stalled cars and more--along all major and minor roadways. Information is updated wirelessly.

--Tube 2 (http://www.visualit.co.uk/Palm/palm_Tube2.htm) - gives you a map of subways and metro systems around the world that includes line changes, platform directions and accurate journey times.

Of course the Bay Area isn't the only place that has to deal with these types of situations and traffic in general, so if you're outside the Bay Area, see which of the above applications and sites work best for getting around.

Feel free to share any tips for commuting or how to survive traffic jams, whether it involves a mobile device or not.

Good luck out there,

Adam Moise - Manager Developer Relations

Comments

[Adam]

google maps rocks especially on the palm based treos... there is also a mini app which can make google maps talk with bluetooth GPS pucks...

[TCRichard]

MetrO is an excellent freeware application containing transit information, transit route planning and points of interest in hundreds of cities around the world. It's available in many languages too.

[Jerry Giardina]

Adam please give TeleNav for our Treo's without using an external device for GPS (please!!!)

Thank you,

[Carl W. Brooks]

I like GoogleMaps, but it is lacking one thing (I have yet to find a mobile or web product to allow this); the ability to exclude a certain road or freeway. In Detroit, we have to "Dodge the Lodge" because the Lodge Freeway will be down for many months. When getting directions on GoogleMaps and others resources, there is no way to say avoid the Lodge and give me the next alternative route. If anyone knows of such a feature or can knock on Google's door with the suggestion, I would be a very happy guy.

[Robbert]

For people who are really fond on their cars. Have you ever tried using the 'traffic' option in the PLUS services of TomTom NAVIGATOR 6? It is really usefull and gives you all the current traffic on the route to your destination. It works on a Treo via your data account of your mobile provider.

http://www.tomtom.com/plus/service.php?ID=3&Lid=4

[Kevin]

For Seattle area folks, there is the free SeaTraffic map:

http://www.pdatraffic.com/

[Tommy]

The mini app mentioned in first post that "adds" GPS support to Google Maps for Palm OS is "Where Am I?" by Marcin Orlowski. Can be downloaded here: http://tinyurl.com/3axxfo or http://wfmh.org.pl/carlos/

[WDK]

It seems you guys need to rethink the way this blog goes. 7 comments comparing to 130 on the first post indicates that the remaining customers/users do not really like this, in fact, ad channel. This collapsed bridge is like the Palm Inc. - paid road - collapsed as well, but still ticket sales is going on. You're guys are going exactly the same path Commodore/Amiga went...

[Ondrej Burda]

Hello,
first of all thank you for your great job with Palm blog.
I am long time Palm user and fan.

Please let me give you one question regarding GPS. In treo 750 is used MSM6275 chipset (http://www.cdmatech.com/products/msm6275_chipset_solution.jsp)
This chipset contain GPS functionality as well. Is here special reason why this isn't used for users (I think special construction problems etc.) or is here any other reason?. HTC company release SW update for existing users of HTC Trinity (P3600) free upgrade which enable this functionality. Do we have any chance to see this in future as well or this isn't possible?

Treo 750 isn't cheap device and this will extend group if features. To be honest for me will be great new Treo with 320x320 based on WM6 with Wi-Fi and GPS build in so please give us this device. It isn't question of power we can simply disable that if not needed.

PS: Please any release date for WM6 update for 750?

Thank you for your time and have a great day.

Best Regards
Ondrej Burda

[Garman]

I know this is off topic but how about a favicon, so we can find you more easily on the bookmark bar right below my address bar. Maybe my saying "finding you" and saying "address" makes it on topic.

[John Trev]

Check out www.mapjack.com, they have a unique way to look arround in San Fransisco, they have created a character (Jack) and you see exactly what Jack sees. You can roam on the streets using street level view. They just launched Panoramic View of stret-level images, through which you can watch arround jack at 360 degree angle.