What's new

A service for planning public transport routes in Japan?

4 Apr 2014
667
193
60
In Russia we have that web service, where one simply marks two locations on the map and the service builds several routes with different means of transportation as well as approximate time and cost for each route. It takes bus lines, local trains, inter-city railroads, trams, subway and whatnot into account. Is there a similar Japanese service?
 
Several.

I don't know how well they integrate buses into their calculations. Not very well, I suspect.
 
駅すぱあと
Tried it. Good functionality, lots of settings. Bus lines are handled just fine. Has a feature which allows me to exclude them freaking airplanes from inter-city routes. Think i'll fix on it.
I only wish it was possible to simply pinpoint two spots on the map, rather than entering bus stops/train stations' names manually.
Anyway, thank you so much Mike.
 
Yes, Google Maps is exactly what you are looking for.
経路を検索して表示する - パソコン - マップ ヘルプ
11skzly.jpg
 
I have used Google maps extensively during the last few trips to Japan. I can say that it has gotten better with each visit and has added more public transit info, more routing options, and better street designations. Also, off-line maps is now officially supported on both Android and iOS (Apple) devices.
 
Busses integrate well in Google maps. I use it between all of my home visits.

Rarely it thinks I walk faster than I do, but mostly when the area is hilly.
 
Seems like bus routes in more remote regions are not yet integrated in either of the above-mentioned services. And while one area i tried to find a bus route, is rural enough to justify lack of bus lines integration, the other one is within municipal area of Tokushima city.

Anyway i was able to build both routes. For the rural area i had to visit the bus line operator's website 出水市・長島町 バス時刻表 | 南国交通株式会社 while Tokushima bus lines are recognized by 乗換案内|ジョルダン , suggested by Thomas above, but not by any of the other services.

So there is still room for improvement to make public transport route-building process less time-consuming.
 
Back
Top Bottom