Undocumented thinker:

** full disclosure: I am employed by a major Midwestern transit agency, but what I say here are my personal statements and opinions **

Your perceptions of public transit, Google Transit, and the interaction between them, while ideal and worthy as GOALS, are an unrealistic picture of the state of things as they currently exist.

First off, the best algorithms in the world are utterly useless without date against which to apply them. A transit agency's willingness or unwillingness to supply their data to Google cannot easily be overcome by compelling the agency to comply, and approaching it from such an antagonsitic standpoint will only lead to failure.

Second, your assertion that Google's lack of comprehensive coverage provides a disservice misrepresents the message that is returned when one attempts to look for transit directions in an area where they are not available. The exact message is "Your search for transit directions from <origin> to <destination> appears to be outside our current coverage area. Please consult our list of participating public transit agencies." This does not in any way state that there is no transit service in a given area.

Third, certain "mass transit providers" you have identified, such as Greyhound, you yourself indicated are private, for-profit companies, and so they might take a different stance about integrating their information. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for anything that makes it easier for the consumer, but it's not necessarily as easy as you might think (anyone remember the struggle to get airline fare & schedule information onto sites like Orbitz?).

I'm as confused as Jessica regarding your statement about "delegated citizens". While I support, applaud, and encourage citizen participation in the planning process, it is the rare citizen who has an understanding of the vagaries of route and schedule planning in the scope of limited resource availability. Typically, private citizens are most concerned with "their service", not "the service". Transit planning involves planning a SYSTEM, not a series of individual routes.

To your fourth point, regarding government funding, I say, "great idea". Unfortunately, mass transit funding in this country has been woefully underserved for decades. Also, until the recent House bill (the Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008) was passed (and still needs to be ratfied by the Senate and signed by the President), federal funding for mass transit typically only addressed hard infrastructure expansion, and not soft operating costs. The best thing anyone can do near-term is lobby their Senators to ensure that this bill passes.