Public transit made easy
I've known that Google has had a "public transit directions" option on google maps for the iphone for a couple of years now, but I only really started making use of it today to facilitate a day-long adventure around San Francisco. It is so amazingly useful. In the past I tended to avoid SF's buses (and instead focus on the muni & bart trains) because the system was so complex that I needed a large map with me at all times to really navigate the bus system properly. Ironically, the map needed to be large because the system covered the city very well.
I don't know if the system is fully integrated with NextBus, which provides real-time bus positions via gps, but the times it gave seemed fairly accurate.
Building up an intuition for the bus system in a new city often takes longer than building up an intuition for major streets. As a result, having a little voice that (metaphorically) whispers in your ear to stand on a street corner, get on a particular bus, get off at a particular spot, board another bus, and then disembark at your destination, is incredibly useful and is likely to make me use the bus system a lot more in the future.
I don't know if the system is fully integrated with NextBus, which provides real-time bus positions via gps, but the times it gave seemed fairly accurate.
Building up an intuition for the bus system in a new city often takes longer than building up an intuition for major streets. As a result, having a little voice that (metaphorically) whispers in your ear to stand on a street corner, get on a particular bus, get off at a particular spot, board another bus, and then disembark at your destination, is incredibly useful and is likely to make me use the bus system a lot more in the future.