New Version of NTA Journey Planner

devnull

Now live at:
http://journeyplanner.transportforireland.ie

This one appears to have several new features
- Streamlined interface
- Dublin Bike Station Locations
- Cycle Route Support
- Stop by Stop Departure Info
- Route Maps showing every stop for routes

Seems a big improvement at first glance.

munchkin_utd

Yea, it's a massive improvement

Even just the simple point of having the first suggested location being the actual town you're looking for.
Previously if you typed Cavan it came with a list of dozens of stops in Cavan along with random places down the country with Cavan in the name. Now Cavan means Cavan and no need to scroll away through heaps of stuff to get to the obvious correct place

devnull

Seems to be using real time bike availability data now as well for Dublin Bikes, wasn't earlier.

The fares panel is also nice now as well, if you click on a fare for a particular journey it says now stuff about Fare Capping, Leap 90 etc if it applies

The journey details also gives you stop numbers of which stops you should be standing at, at a particular place when using the bus.

I've even seen it suggest using Dublin Bikes for part of a trip as it works out it's quicker than using the bus!

Interface is really pleasant on a computer as well, Mentz and the NTA have done a good job on this.

Victor

I got to play with this for the last month.

I think the way the map works is much smoother than previously. It is also bigger.

Input of to / from is smoother / more user friendly.

It supports Eircodes (except mine).

POI database includes individual businesses like solicitors and GPs.

You can 'bring bike on train'.

You can store your usual locations. When the site was originally designed, it recorded all previous locations searched, which was considered inappropriate for the public release for data protection reasons.

wench

It recognises Eircodes, which is neat.

Still slightly buggy with the leap 90 discount, applies it to the second bus but not the third one.

devnull

Never realized that it supported Eircodes, that is a nice touch

Also shows student fares as well as adult and child fares and seems to use RTPI info as well if you plan a journey for now.

Showing intermediate stops is a nice touch as well so you don't miss your stop or you know how many stops it is on a train when the information systems onboard don't work etc.

As you say the maps are really good now, very clear and easy to use.

LXFlyer

Doesn't seem to recognise Eircodes from apartments?

VG31

devnull wrote: »

Showing intermediate stops is a nice touch as well so you don't miss your stop or you know how many stops it is on a train when the information systems onboard don't work etc.

The Moovit app is great for that. You can select what route you're on and the stop you want to get off. It will then show your progress on the list of stops and will alert you when when your stop is coming up.

bk

VG31 wrote: »

The Moovit app is great for that. You can select what route you're on and the stop you want to get off. It will then show your progress on the list of stops and will alert you when when your stop is coming up.

Buses in Amsterdam have full sized LCD screens which show the next 5 stops and expected arrival time at each stop.

A small thing, but extremely handy, wish we had them. Allows you to keep an eye out for when your stop is coming up.

These screens would probably work even better here, with our issues of closely spaced stops, double deckers/single door operation (enough time to get downstairs) and having to display stupid Irish on them!

I have to say the DB screens are so useless, I've given up on them! I use Google Maps instead, thanks for the tip on the moovit app.

redfacedbear

Put in a trip from Wexford to Ashbourne and it offered an interesting suggestion. Apparently I should get off the BE 2 at Nutley Lane get a (DB) 7a and then a 40 before linking up with the BE 103 somewhere along the route.

Staying on the Wexford bus to Custom House Quay and walking to the Beresford Pl terminus for the Ashbourne bus isn't listed as an option.

I presume the algorithm is picking for quickest journey rather than minimal links?

devnull

By default it picks quickest journey, in the options you can change it to minimal changes.

Victor

redfacedbear wrote: »

Put in a trip from Wexford to Ashbourne and it offered an interesting suggestion. Apparently I should get off the BE 2 at Nutley Lane get a (DB) 7a and then a 40 before linking up with the BE 103 somewhere along the route.

Staying on the Wexford bus to Custom House Quay and walking to the Beresford Pl terminus for the Ashbourne bus isn't listed as an option.

I presume the algorithm is picking for quickest journey rather than minimal links?

The problem is that some operators load a huge amount of time into the end of the running time.

dublinman1990

I put in my first query into the search box for options from Blackrock into Upper O'Connell Street just to try it out. Here was my results.

The running times on the Dublin Bus routes like the 4, 7 & the 7a seem to be a bit odd.

My query responded saying that the 4 & the 7 would take about 35 minutes between those stops.

The query for the 7a came back with a response with a shorter running time of 29 minutes.

So according to my query; I get a running time advantage of between 5 to 7 minutes if I had taken a 7a into town instead of taking the 4 or the 7.

Should the running times for those 3 routes preferably be the other way around.

4 - 29 minutes
7 - 29 minutes
7a - 35 minutes

I included options as well as for walking & other modes as well as including the DART. But it included no result for DART from Seapoint or Blackrock to Tara Street when combined with a walking option. I asked for a taxi option as well. The taxi running time between those two areas was 21 minutes.

There was no option for cyclists either when I queried it.

Another thing is that the Leap Card option was only included for Dublin Bus. No option came up for DART fares on Leap Card.

I have Windows 10 app from them. It is not bad but it should include options like DART as it will come in very handy.

devnull

All info is based on historical data from rtpi for that particular timetabled service see it should be a good guide.

It won't recommend dart if you have just missed one and the next one is not for half an hour because that would be silly.

It recommends the fastest option based on the time of journey you select or if you were leaving now the fastest options right now.

bk

Seems to struggle to find Mahonpoint Shopping Center in Cork. Surprising as a major destination. Google has no issue finding it.

Also not sure why you can't allow it to use your devices current location.

An improvement certainly, but Google Maps is still much better IMO.

Victor

bk wrote: »

Seems to struggle to find Mahonpoint Shopping Center in Cork. Surprising as a major destination.

**cough** Mahon Point **cough**

Unfortunate it can't work without the space.

bk

Victor wrote: »

**cough** Mahon Point **cough**

Unfortunate it can't work without the space.

Yes, which actually drops you 6 minutes walk from the actual shopping Center on the road, rather then at the front door of the shopping center where the 202 now stops.

Also neither of the following work which most people would be looking for:
- Mahon Point Shopping Center
- Mahonpoint Sopping Center

Try Google maps, search for Mahon and the first result is "Mahon Point Shopping Center" which places the marker right in the center of shopping center and as a result better highlights the 202.

Victor

I'm wondering if it would be nice to have the map bigger? With this: http://url.ie/11ujh you can drag the line between the map and text sections, to suit your needs. I think maps look better in landscape.

Mahonpoint is being fixed. The thing with Google is that they don't update there timetables / travel alerts often enough or use realtime information. The do realtime route recalculation, which is cool, but that is no use if it doesn't know whether your bus is on time or not.