Skip to Content
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Log In
Commuting

511 Transit Called “Heroic Act of Interagency Cooperation”

511_AC_Transit.jpgImage: transit.511.org

The Government Computer News magazine, part of the U.S. General Services Administration, called the 511 Transit website maintained by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) "a heroic act of interagency coordination" when naming it to it's list of the "10 great government websites nationwide for 2009."

I'm not trying to downplay the utility and convenience of 511 Transit, but I think that's the first time I've heard "interagency cooperation" and "heroic" in the same sentence, at least for transit. Of course, it's also the first time I've heard of Government Computer News magazine.

But the site is a great utility for those of us who have regular commutes and you can find a whole lot of information for transit operators you might not be familiar with when making those non-routine trips around the Bay Area.

Tom Spiekerman, 511 Transit project manager for the MTC, said the site's recent redesign makes it “faster, smarter... and easier to use. Even the quality of the information is improved, thanks to new data collection and aggregation processes — and a lot of valuable customer feedback from website visitors. As a result the online trip planner is now among the best of its kind anywhere.”

According to the MTC, the 511 Transit page registered nearly 1.7 million individual user sessions in July 2009, a 47 percent increase over the monthly average in 2008. And the online trip planner at the 511 Transit page generated more than 1.5 million itineraries last month, compared to a monthly average of about 1.1 million in 2008.

What do you think, dear readers? How useful is 511 Transit for you and do you use the site often or prefer other outlets?

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog San Francisco

Op-Ed: It’s Time to Extend the Central Subway to North Beach

There are abandoned tunnels under Stockton Street: here’s how they could transform San Francisco’s subway system.

May 8, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘Normal’ is Not Correct, Someone Died Here

After a crash, the debris is quickly cleaned up and everyone moves on (usually too quickly). But these two experts are asking us to all slow down.

May 8, 2025

LA Metro Names Former SFPD Chief Bill Scott as Chief of Police

Chief Scott and Metro leadership emphasized that keeping Metro transit safe would require a multi-faceted approach that included the deployment of officers as well as collaboration with the community, ambassadors, and service providers. "Sometimes enforcement is the answer," Scott said. "Sometimes it's not."

May 7, 2025
See all posts