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Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
11–20 of 88 posts
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#12Hi, Sha from Trulia here. I worked on some of the frontend aspects of this visualization and would be happy to answer any questions. We're pulling in OSM road data and published GTFS files for public transit routing. I just linked to SF but you can also search for other cities: http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/new-york-ny http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/miami-fl http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/austin-tx
Not really applicable to me it seems. I commute across the Twin Cities in Minnesota in about 50 minutes but it wouldn't even calculate my times due to it being "well over 60 minutes" which is the max the filter will apply. How useful can you expect this to be, since commuting times can vary wildly even if you begin your commute 10 minutes earlier?
You're being too critical.
This isn't a website to tell you your exact commute time. If you want that, try Google Maps.
This is to show you roughly estimated travel times in all directions when you're looking at purchasing real-estate. And I think it works very well for that.
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#13Question: Is the pointer the start location or the end location of the commute? It wasn't immediately obvious to me and in many areas it makes a huge difference. It seems like it's just pulling worst case "in traffic" drive times right now. Also is it possible to adjust the time of day that one commutes? (since many may work shifts off rush hour and encounter little/no traffic or strange/intermittent transit schedule…
The pointer should be the start location - so drag that to where you live - then from there you can see the estimated commute time based on the heat map.
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#14Question: Is the pointer the start location or the end location of the commute? It wasn't immediately obvious to me and in many areas it makes a huge difference. It seems like it's just pulling worst case "in traffic" drive times right now. Also is it possible to adjust the time of day that one commutes? (since many may work shifts off rush hour and encounter little/no traffic or strange/intermittent transit schedule…
End location - Trulia is trying to sell you houses that have a good commute to your work.
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#15This is the most worthless chart I've ever seen. When would this be useful? It's roughly the same everywhere.
Before I am downvoted into oblivion... honestly can someone explain to me when they would ever reference this chart? Give me one good example.
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#16Hi, Sha from Trulia here. I worked on some of the frontend aspects of this visualization and would be happy to answer any questions. We're pulling in OSM road data and published GTFS files for public transit routing. I just linked to SF but you can also search for other cities: http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/new-york-ny http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/miami-fl http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/austin-tx
This is super cool!
It's more of a backend question, but what algorithm are you guys using to traverse the maps?
Also, why did you decide to use Google for the display maps, when you used OSM for the backend calculations?
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#17Hi, Sha from Trulia here. I worked on some of the frontend aspects of this visualization and would be happy to answer any questions. We're pulling in OSM road data and published GTFS files for public transit routing. I just linked to SF but you can also search for other cities: http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/new-york-ny http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/miami-fl http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/austin-tx
Is this the absolute worst-case commute times? It never takes me that long to commute into/out of miami, or baltimore, or fort lauderdale. More like half the time. DC actually seemed like it went the opposite way as it usually takes an hour and a half to get from VA through the beltway into DC while the map showed only an hour for as far out as Dale City. A half hour (or more) from Petworth into Downtown during rush…
I'm seeing the same thing. It says Bedford to Stamford is 45 minutes, it's actually about 25 minutes.
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#18I think it's a very awesome idea, and I'm impressed with the visuals. However it seems that several people on here are claiming wildly inaccurate commute times, and I myself have noticed this as well. I think part of the problem is that it is hard to get a full understanding of what rush hour traffic is like, and that the actual volumes of traffic and slowdown differ depending on locality and road. Sever places, including my home town, have way overblown estimates, such as 40min commute on a road that never takes more than 15. and that's a two way, two lane road. However City driving can be much much different, and even dependent on end of day vs. morning. For example, my DC commute was 40min in the morning (it is reverse rush hour) but my commute home was always a hour and 15, on the same road, reverse commute both times.
edit: and if I could make any other suggestion, I would be to allow me to continue to zoom out. The zoom sticks at a certain point, and it is not zoomed out far enough for me.
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#19Hi, Sha from Trulia here. I worked on some of the frontend aspects of this visualization and would be happy to answer any questions. We're pulling in OSM road data and published GTFS files for public transit routing. I just linked to SF but you can also search for other cities: http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/new-york-ny http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/miami-fl http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/austin-tx
Thanks - it actually seems close to accurate for me - though I have an approximate 2 hour commute door to door so it's purely guessing on the remainder of the trip. Will the outer boroughs of NYC receive transportation options as well?
Re: Interactive visualization of commute times for all US cities
#20Hi, Sha from Trulia here. I worked on some of the frontend aspects of this visualization and would be happy to answer any questions. We're pulling in OSM road data and published GTFS files for public transit routing. I just linked to SF but you can also search for other cities: http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/new-york-ny http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/miami-fl http://www.trulia.com/local#commute/austin-tx
Hi Sha,
Great work. I checked commuting time for Seattle, WA using public transit and most of your visualization are spot on. Is the public GTFS files you are referring to come from here: http://code.google.com/p/googletransitdatafeed/wiki/PublicFe...?
With regard to some of the earlier replies saying that the map is inaccurate, it might be worthwhile to use Amazon Turk to run some evaluation on how reliable the spatial data (or your algorithm for calculating travel time, rural vs local, .etc) is.
-Sen