Do you fancy yourself a world traveler? Do you like to use the Trains, Subways, Tubes or the umm??? Metro, when you are in a strange place? If you do and you hate asking for directions, then this post is for you! I have been using a little free program called MetrO, for about 5 years now??? That???s right 5 long years ago all the way back on my first Ipaq??? But I digress.

M??tro is a free worldwide public transport guide that always sits on your PDA (Palm, PocketPC, Smartphone???). It is a small database application that allows you to download different cities metro information. And it is totally search-able.

From Metro???s homepage:

Metro finds your way in public transport systems in more than 350 cities around the world (Paris, New York, London, Tokyo, any city with a subway & many more!). FREE, FAST & ACCURATE.

No, your mobile won???t be screaming at you to catch the train across the platform because of a sick passenger up ahead. It will not automagically get you to your destination faster – BUT you can manually use it to search for alternate routes when you are in a jam, calculate travel time, or lookup directions in hundreds of cities worldwide. And that???s what it is all about right? Free tools to get something done.

I have never seen a free mobile app with such a wide range of device support. This thing is available in almost EVERY language and for almost EVERY platform. Metro gets loaded up on almost any Palm, Windows Mobile or Symbian operating system (Now with iPhone support here).

Once you download the correct version for you device copy over any data files you think you will need. On first launch the application asks you to choose your database.

You are now ready to search. You can find how to get from one stop to another, major landmarks to stops or other landmarks, shortest distance, least transfers etc??? In other words this program is a life saver. When I was in Paris it was awesome. I couldn???t pronounce a lot of the street names let alone speak the language to have someone help me out – so I whipped out my larger then life 2003 HP Ipaq and was finding my way around in no time.

Additional features include:

• Directions and information to major tourist attractions (in selected cities)
• Download and take only the cities you need.
• Easy station search.
• Really complete line & station lists: 575 stops in London, 785 in New-York, 1600 in Tokyo, 1526 in Paris, and so on.

To sum up, The AdmiN gives Metro 4 thumbs up??? That is both of mine and my wifes! I have become very dependent on it and do not know how I would cope without it.

Enjoy! And I wish all of you MUO readers out there for this year to be better then last and for all of your geeky dreams to come true!

More from MakeUseOf.com ???
1. MakeUseOf Directory : Learn about up-to 5 truly useful and free web services on a daily basis. Most of them are new and were never published on MakeUseOf before.
2. MakeUseOf ???Geeky Fun???: – Fun geeky pics and videos from different parts of web.