Feb 02
The waves of people taking the train to the Super Bowl and the security trying to screen them has created a disaster. Here’s what it looks like in Secaucus.
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Dec 11
It’s almost time to pack your bag again, tuck some presents under your arm and find your way back to your family. You might take a plane, drive a car or ride a train. Some of you might just walk. But Dan Croll—he takes the Tube.
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Dec 10
With the Super Bowl now less than two months away—Groundhog Day!—the disparate mass transit organizations around New York City are gearing up for more than 400,000 new visitors. And what do out of towners always need in New York? They need maps. Beautiful, useful maps.
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Jul 29
Skytran Magnetically Levitating Mass Transit System: The Future is Coming to Tel Aviv
Posted in: Today's ChiliThere aren’t that many maglev trains in operation yet (one is currently operating in Shanghai, China and another is in Japan). There have been skytrains and monorails before, but this is the world’s first magnetically levitating system of mass transit, which will be built in Tel Aviv, Israel. Previous maglev trains were for intercity journeys, not urban mass transit.
Skytran was designed to reduce urban traffic congestion. It’s supposed to be less expensive to use, faster, and more comfortable than cars or buses. The two-seater pods allow for personal transit between stations.
Vehicles will be requested through a mobile app and are supposed to arrive almost instantly on demand.
The system was designed by engineers from NASA and Skytran. I wonder how this will scale up when tens of thousands of people try to use it every day. It kind of reminds me of the pods in Minority Report.
[via designboom]
Nov 01
Google Wallet update purportedly leaks plans for a real-world card, transfers and transit passes
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Google Wallet hasn’t had much uptake in the real world. When most of its use has revolved around one carrier, few payment points and even fewer phones, most of us have had to sit on the sidelines. If an Android Police source really did come across a leaked future build of Google Wallet as he claims, though, we may know how Google surmounts that problem: going old school with a real-world card. Screenshots in the app supposedly show a mail-in option for plastic that could completely replace credit and debit cards without turning to NFC. Any charges after a typical swipe of the magnetic strip would simply go to whatever payment source is set as Wallet’s default, letting minimalists slim down their actual wallets while sharing in the same discounts as their phone-wielding counterparts. Digital-only purists would still get something out of the deal, as the update could also bring person-to-person money transfers and support for mass transit cards. How soon the as yet unconfirmed app would appear is still a mystery, but it dovetails with Google teasing a Wallet revamp that’s rumored to take mobile use beyond its Android-only roots; we just didn’t anticipate that the company might bypass our phones altogether.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Google Wallet update purportedly leaks plans for a real-world card, transfers and transit passes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Oct 11
Indian Railways has just made it a little easier for rail travelers with a new web app called RailRadar, which uses Google Maps to track trains on a real-time basis. This is certainly welcome on one of the largest rail networks in the world — it operates more than 10,000 trains everyday — though the service is only available on 6,500 trains for now. To find out where your train is, simply search for its name or number and RailRadar will spot it for you. You can also find trains by entering the name of the station. Blue highlights indicate trains that are on time while red means it’s behind schedule. If you click on a train, it’ll show its entire route from start to finish. The logical next step would be for this to be on smartphones like how it is in Japan, though we’re not sure if that’s in the cards just yet.
[Thanks, dil]
Filed under: Transportation, Internet
Indian Railways launches RailRadar, lets you track trains via Google Maps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 02:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sep 26
Google Maps on web and Android adds bus routing for Japan, guides teddy bears quickly (video)
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Virtually anyone who’s been to a Japanese city knows that subways and trains might be closely associated with their country, but also that they only form a part of the mass transit picture. With that in mind, Google has quietly rolled out an update to Google Maps data for Android and the web that supports bus navigation in Japan, including schedules. It’s a simple addition, but an important one for those who can’t always get to where they’re going on rails — like teddy bears, according to Google’s video. We just want to know who makes that kawaii case for the Galaxy Nexus.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Google Maps on web and Android adds bus routing for Japan, guides teddy bears quickly (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 03:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Aug 30
Garmin, Navigon GPS apps now consider mass transit, remember where we parked
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Third-party navigation apps still tend to fall apart when the keys are out of the ignition — try to cut back on car use and you’re often kicked over to another app with its own set of rules. Both Garmin’s StreetPilot Onboard app and its Navigon equivalent are getting a much more holistic experience through respective upgrades due this fall. Android and iOS users alike can soon buy an Urban Guidance pack that factors buses, subways and other forms of public transportation into their on-foot routes. The playing field is leveling off for drivers willing to stretch their legs, too: iPhone owners with Navigon’s app get the same last-mile walking directions and parking finder as their Android counterparts. StreetPilot iPhone app users are left out of this last addition, but they’ll see compensation in the form of an optional Panorama View 3D mode and the Google Street View they’re about to lose from Maps in iOS 6. The updated titles will still cost $30 for Navigon-only regional packs, $50 for editions with US-wide maps and $60 for all of North America, although you’ll need to spend $5 more ($3 during the first two weeks) for Urban Guidance and $10 for the Panorama View 3D pack.
Continue reading Garmin, Navigon GPS apps now consider mass transit, remember where we parked
Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Software, Mobile
Garmin, Navigon GPS apps now consider mass transit, remember where we parked originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Garmin StreetPilot Onboard (iOS), Navigon (Android), (iOS) | Email this | Comments
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