Subway trains, yes, but not the commuter rail. Plus, while on the subway network one transfer to and from the bus network is free, your route might require you to make multiple transfers that are not free. In addition, there are also cross borough express buses that are more expensive. Citymapper is the only app that shows total prices alongside the route options.
in America, there's absolutely no concept of a train stopping at the same place in a station every time. There could be a half-train-length difference between where one train stops, and where the next train stops on the same tracks in the same station, because the operators are so sloppy.
Not the case at all. The NYC subway conductors are required to manually point to "Zebra Boards" aligned with the center of the platform at every single stop - a practice that originated in Japan. Some stations also need platform gap fillers to be extended when the train arrives, which also requires trains to stop at very specific points at the platform. NYC subway platforms also have markings to stand for where the train door will be.
This is all to say that it is indeed possible to know which train car to board for efficient transfer or exit. Google Maps only provides information on which exit or entrance to use at the station, but nothing about the platform itself. Citymapper tells you that the best location to board the train is towards the back, for example.
>I think that if Facebook did just provide phonebook-like functionality I would be so interested in using it. Instead, it feels more like an application(s) built to serve ads that happens to provide some phonebook functionality.
Interesting, I guess I didn't notice this last time I was in NYC.
In DC (where I lived for years until recently), this stuff just isn't the case at all. There's no way to predict where the operator will stop the train, and it can be many car-lengths different from operator to operator.
Subway trains, yes, but not the commuter rail. Plus, while on the subway network one transfer to and from the bus network is free, your route might require you to make multiple transfers that are not free. In addition, there are also cross borough express buses that are more expensive. Citymapper is the only app that shows total prices alongside the route options.
in America, there's absolutely no concept of a train stopping at the same place in a station every time. There could be a half-train-length difference between where one train stops, and where the next train stops on the same tracks in the same station, because the operators are so sloppy.
Not the case at all. The NYC subway conductors are required to manually point to "Zebra Boards" aligned with the center of the platform at every single stop - a practice that originated in Japan. Some stations also need platform gap fillers to be extended when the train arrives, which also requires trains to stop at very specific points at the platform. NYC subway platforms also have markings to stand for where the train door will be.
This is all to say that it is indeed possible to know which train car to board for efficient transfer or exit. Google Maps only provides information on which exit or entrance to use at the station, but nothing about the platform itself. Citymapper tells you that the best location to board the train is towards the back, for example.