I just googled public transit to downtown Reno and found that it would cost about a dollar more, plus 20 additional minutes for me to reach my destination on a bus than it would driving. But the fact that I could compare this to driving options is pretty cool.

Google Transit just launched yesterday and shows public transit options for 19 areas in 10 states, as well as Japan.

Type in your time, departure location and destination, and the system plots available mass transit routes on the Google map. It estimates the length of time to walk to the bus (or other type of transit) stop, the time spent on the bus, and the transit fare. Then you can compare that to the driving directions, estimated time and cost of gas for driving.

This is awesome for people without cars, those wishing to rely less on their cars and more on public transit, tourists or newcomers to an area.