City teams up with Google Maps
By SHAWN BERRY
berry.shawn@dailygleaner.com
Published Tuesday December 4th, 2007
Appeared on page A1
Finding your city bus schedule just got a lot easier. Fredericton has become the first city in Atlantic Canada to offer its transit map online through Google Transit.
The online public transit trip-planning tool is a feature of Google Maps.
It allows users to enter their departure and arrival addresses and Google Transit finds the best route.
It provides users with a map showing the route, details of alternate routes, departure times, bus stop locations and transfer information.
It also allows users to set a designated time of arrival so the tool can identify the best departure time.
"It's a smart technology for a smart city," said Coun. Marilyn Kerton, chairwoman of the city's transportation committee.
"I've been trying it out and really, really like it.''
Kerton put the tool to a real test Monday when she needed to use public transit to get to a southside location she doesn't often visit by bus.
"I Googled it, and it got it down pat, I was really impressed with it.''
She said she believes others will appreciate the high-tech map option.
"It gives our citizens a great new way to plan their trips on Fredericton Transit and adds to the balanced lifestyle residents enjoy."
The transit trip planner builds on the increasingly popular Google Maps tool.
Work on obtaining the Google Transit device for Fredericton began last summer.
The city's information technology and transit divisions partnered with Google, Inc., to add its data to Google Transit.
"It's a real feather in our cap to be up there," said Rob Lunn, geographic information systems co-ordinator for the city's IT division Monday.
Montreal and Vancouver are the only other Canadian cities listed.
"The idea is that it will be an enhancement to the traditional ways of providing transit information to our customers," Lunn said.
But it doesn't spell the end of the paper map.
"It's just another way to access information on transit," said Sandy MacNeill, manager of the city's transit division.
"We think it will be a good thing for our clientele who are computer savvy and want to be able to map out some different options within our system.
"A lot of times, people will call us and say, 'I need to get to such-and-such a place by noon,' and we can give a couple of options depending on the destination. We'll continue to do that. This is just another way to put those options out before them," MacNeill said.
Fredericton Transit provides service on seven routes, six days a week. The transit fleet consists of 28 buses, which carry thousands of passengers every year.
Transit services in 22 North American cities are available on the website, as are Switzerland's national services, all of Japan's regional and national rail networks, domestic airlines and ferries and Traveline Southeast in the United Kingdom.
Google Transit can be accessed by logging on to the transit pages of the city website at
www.fredericton.ca or at
www.google.ca/transit.
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New southside eateries to open next year
By SHAWN BERRY
berry.shawn@dailygleaner.com
Published Tuesday December 4th, 2007
Appeared on page A3
Montana's Cookhouse and East Side Mario's restaurants are expected to open in the city next year.
Both restaurants will be built at the Corbett Brook Centre located at the intersection of Regent Street and Knowledge Park Drive.
East Side Mario's is expected to be open by late summer. Montana's Cookhouse is predicted to open in the fall.
"We have assigned a franchisee who is ready to go. He is within the community. We're excited to have it there," said Joel Friedman, director of planning for Prime Restaurants, which owns the East Side Mario's brand.
"We're planning to start construction right after the thaw and then try to open for late summer."
The building will be about 5,000 square feet with about 200 seats inside and an outdoor patio.
East Side Mario's has locations in Moncton and Saint John, and more than 100 locations across Canada.
A spokesperson for Montana's Cookhouse confirmed a restaurant is scheduled to open in Fredericton in September 2008.
The 5,100-square-foot restaurant will seat about200.
"Construction should start to be visible in the spring," said Ron Craig, vice-president of marketing for Montana's Cookhouse.
Montana's Cookhouse has 85 locations across Canada. The restaurant will be the company's third in New Brunswick.
The company operates a restaurant in Moncton and a Saint John location is scheduled to open Feb. 15.
The Corbett Brook Centre is a 450,000-square-foot design.
It's home to a Home Depot store.
A map of the location lists tenants as Montana's and East Side Mario's, as well as Michael's, Winners/HomeSense, PetCetetera, Dollarama and Linen 'N Things.
Another entry calls for a proposed standalone "warehouse club."
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