I sometimes don’t understand 511. Or rather, I understand, but I just disagree.

There are three trips that I looked at for getting where I was going tonight. The one I actually wanted was the third one. The other two are marginally shorter (by 2-3 minutes) and in one case quite a bit more complicated, involving more than one transfer. The other one is probably about the same but it involves dealing with a station and bus that I’m not as familiar with and which are a bit more sketchy. I know 511 doesn’t know that I’m less familiar, but I still think the trip I picked (Caltrain to 4th and King, N-Judah to Duboce & Church) is the easiest one, and the least sketchy. The fact that it’s three minutes longer really matters not at all to me. Similarly, the return trip tried a multi-transfer trip first before giving me the N option.

In my opinion, transfers should definitely be weighted more heavily as a negative. If there’s something I hate about transit, it’s transferring when the connections aren’t well-defined and familiar, and all the attendant worry it brings. Give me the simple option that takes two minutes longer, please.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that it said that the 6:37 Caltrain is the last one of the day, and then promptly displayed a schedule showing many more? Yeah, I really don’t know what that’s about.