Mapping and transportation hacks, #253

I've been trying to figure out the bus system for my soon-to-be neck of the woods, and have thus far found the regional transit agency's website a tad challenging to navigate.
So I made up my own transit map instead, with the bus routes marked on it, plus grocery stores and coffee shops and sundry other necessities of life. Which I'm linking to, just for fun:

View Larger Map

Just in case any of you happen to be in New London and want to get around without a car. (I'm still resisting the prospect of car ownership, because, well, $5-a-gallon gas, anyone? At least the current oil crisis means non-car-owning people like me aren't total freaks anymore. Though I'm studiously trying not to think too hard about the implications of peak oil, because it scares the living daylights out of me.)

Speaking of transit agency web sites: I'm perennially surprised by how many of them don't bother to furnish, say, a map of where all the routes go. SEPTA, for instance, has a clickable map of its regional rail and subway lines, but not of its bus lines, of which there are lots and lots. You're apparently just supposed to guess which routes might go near your destination and then look at the maps for each one separately, which is a right pain. And in the age of readily available free mapping tools, where anyone can whip up a map gizmo like the one I just made, why on earth aren't public transit agencies doing something similar?

Which is not to say that I won't miss many things about SEPTA, like having transit options on Sundays. I'm thinking about re-learning to ride a bike, a skill I haven't worked on in more than twenty years. But the nice thing about New London is that it's compact enough to bike everywhere.

3 Responses to “Mapping and transportation hacks, #253”

  1. Mary Marissen says:

    But Amanda, it’s true that you NEVER forget how to ride a bike! Have fun!

  2. Johanna says:

    Just in case there was any doubt about your geekiness…

  3. Amanda says:

    Oh, there was never the slightest doubt about that!