Hoffbauer

Tracking Transit: "The Google Transit Trip Planner launched last week with up-to-the-minute arrival and departure times for buses, streetcars and light rail. It also features fares for each trip and estimates what it would cost if users drove instead, using the Internal Revenue Service's allowable deduction of 40.5 cents per mile over suggested travel routes.

Google Transit so far only has one city; Portland, Oregon, but others are expected to follow soon. According to the Oregonian, Google chose to start with Portland because TriMet already collects a lot of information about routes and its vehicles' locations, and was happy to share.

'The combination of great people and great data made Tri-Met the ideal partner,' Google project manager Avichal Garg wrote on the company's blog.

Much of what Google Transit reports is already available directly from TriMet's own Web site. TriMet uses Orbicomm's GPS gear installed on vehicles to report exactly when they will arrive at each stop, and it makes that live information available on the Web or by phone.

According to the Oregonian, the routes Google recommends are sometimes longer, less convenient and more expensive than those suggested by TriMet.

Bibiana McHugh, a TriMet manager, suggested Thursday that riders not rely on Google Transit to plan their trips until that site improves. [Tri"