I've found the Embark transit applications to be a great alternative (at least for Chicago). It doesn't make up for other missing features like Street View, but you'd be surprised how many users did not even know those features existed.
This is a completely plausible scenario, and look at how Google shines:
1) Seven different transit agencies are represented in the first four suggested routes: LA County Metro, LA City DOT, Culver City Bus, Amtrak, Metrolink and Santa Barbara Transit
2) Google has no trouble mixing and matching the agencies to find the best route (but gives the user the option of reducing transfers).
3) Each route option only requires a subset of those, usually three.
4) Google knows that UCSB means University of California Santa Barbara, and picks a reasonable location on campus
5) This journey works my iPhone 4, but not on an iPhone 5