Connections at Portland’s Rose Quarter Transit Center are made easier by a growing number of Web-based transit tools.

When Chinedu Eheruo moved to New York City he needed to know how to get around. He wasn’t interested in driving, and puzzling together routes on the public transportation system wasn’t much fun. Why couldn’t someone put together a Web site that would use maps of the region, along with all the information about transit systems in New York, to help plan a route?

“Driving directions were well-served, but no one had really gone in and done the programming necessary to navigate the transit system in New York City,” said Bill Raffo, a media representative for HopStop.com.

So Eheruo set out on his own and in November 2004 created a program to map the transit system. He wanted to identify the fastest bus and subway routes, shortest walking distances, and the best combinations of the two.

While it may have led the way on the East Coast, HopStop.com isn’t alone. Across the country, bus, subway, light-rail, and commuter-rail users are looking for better ways to plan their trips, and they’re asking transit authorities to provide them with the data they need. For transit authorities squeezed by higher fuel costs and tighter budgets, the incursion of entrepreneurs into the trip-planning business could be a boon.

Many of these entrepreneurs are trusting in the growth of online advertising to support their endeavors. Web-based private trip-planning systems may provide retailers and restaurants opportunities for location-specific advertising. As of December, online advertising for the year was expected to total $13.2 billion, or 4.7 percent of total advertising sales, according to JMP Securities. JMP also predicts online ad sales could account for 11.1 percent of all advertising by 2010.

HopStop.com entices advertisers with the possibility of “Real Real Local” advertising.