Living in London? Get Perfect Directions Online
Use Google Transit or HopStop for Smart Tube, Bus & Walking Routes
Nov 1, 2009
There's no excuse for being late for Sunday dinner. Getting directions for traveling around London just got easier thanks to online travel information services. London Transport, of course, is the mother lode of information about the Underground and buses. Google, a giant in the field of online maps and driving directions, offers London routes for public transit or walking, too. Now, Londoners can obtain customized travel directions through an Internet start-up called HopStop. HopStop offers a personalized public transit information service. It tells people how to go door-to-door to any London destination in the fastest, greenest way: by public transport, or on foot. The services are useful for visitors traveling to London, too.
Like Google Transit, HopStop London's services are easy to use. Go to their website, enter an address, neighborhood, museum or a restaurant. Click to indicate a preference for only buses or subways, or walking directions. The screen will display the directions, along with a local area map. Or, access the information from a mobile phone using text messaging, or through a PDA. HopStop directions are available in Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Swahili: the website can be accessed in French and English.
Who's Best? Comparing London Transport, Google Transit, and HopStop London
London Transport, Google Transit, and HopStop's London services each have notable strengths.
- London Transport's information is accessible from a desktop computer. It is not yet available via a mobile telephone or PDA. Their "journey planner" gives good options. It helps people find routes that are "fastest," "have fewest changes," and "have the least walking between stops." London Transport also does a good job of suggesting accessible routes to travelers with specific kinds of mobility limitations. The site is brimming with information, for instance routes for cyclists, and the weather.
- Google's site is comprehensive, and, thanks to Google Maps, familiar to millions of users. But its public transit options are clunky in the sense that users cannot customize preferences if they wish to combine modes of transport, say walking and using the Underground.
- HopStop London seems a bit younger at heart. It's highly focused, and offers a wide range of options. Unlike Google, it's environmentally-friendly in that it offers information only on public transportation—rail, subway, bus—and walking. (It does not give driving directions.) Users who want only to travel by a certain form of public transport, for instance by tube only, bus only, or rail only — can specify their preferences. Users can get customized directions that have either “more” or “less” walking, offering the exercise-prone a chance to create a route with more, not less caloric expenditure. Unlike Google, HopStop's service includes information on private shuttles and ferries, and on the duration and price of a cab ride.
How to Get London Travel Directions On-the-Go, by Mobile Telephone, SMS
Google and HopStop’s public transit directions can both be accessed by mobile phones or by connecting on a Blackberry, Treo or other web-enabled mobile devices.
HopStop offers a text messaging function (phone-to-phone, or computer-to-phone) that's useful for on-the-go types. For instance, one can text HopStop the address of one's business meeting, add the word “to, and then the address of a pub. Within seconds, a text message reply pops up with directions from the site of the meeting to the pub. A pop-up map ensures that one actually arrives at the nearest tube station.
Up-to-Date Service Advisories for London Underground, Bus Travel
All three services—London Transport, Google Transit, and HopStop London— factor in real-time updates such as train delays or traffic accidents. But which to use? It depends. Assume, for instance, that one’s route to work in London might generally involve taking the Bakerloo Line from Embankment to Oxford Circus. Whereas London Transit will advise readers if there's closure on the Bakerloo line, HopStop jumps to the practical conclusion and provides a faster route for that morning (for instance, taking the Northern Line to the Circle Line).
Two American Companies Providing Web-Based Directions in London
Both Google and HopStop are US imports. But they couldn't be more different in background. Google, of course, has vast reach. HopStop is a start-up that's enjoyed something of a cult success in the dozen or so cities it serves: New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco, among others. Teenagers use it. So do their 60-something grandmas. It does no marketing; its popularity is due to word-of-mouth enthusiasts. In 2009, HopStop made its first foray abroad, to London and Paris.
Thanks to technology, it’s possible to navigate London using mobile and Web-based information services such as London Transport, Google Transit, and HopStop London. Londoners can now leave their dear old A to Z at home and get around efficiently, in whatever combination of walking and public transport they choose. Consider the classic excuse for arriving late for Sunday dinner —“Trouble on the tube, sorry, mum!” — now officially an anachronism.
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