Google Maps now has Live Transit Updates

Google has added another big piece to the feature set of Google Maps that will be sure to please mass transit riders. In addition to their existing support for car, bicycle, transit, and walking directions, Google Maps is now starting to integrate live transit data to their service. Thanks to data-sharing partnerships with city transit operators, riders will now have the ability to know where there bus is by checking their mobile phone at the station or before even leaving their house from their PC.

Google announced this feature late last week and will initially offer the service in four US cities (Boston, Portland, Ore., San Diego, San Francisco) and two European Cities (Madrid and Turin). Google also said that they are working with additional public transit partners to roll out the feature into as many cities as possible.

Unfortunately Philadelphia did not make the initial list of cities but riders can already get a taste of the Google Maps’ offering by checking out SEPTA’s TransitView which already provides real time information for all of Septa’s 116 bus routes plus 3 trackless trolley and 8 trolley lines. Because of the existence of TransitView I have to imagine that it will not be long before integration with Google Maps and SEPTA.

Making this data available to the public can only add to the convenience of utilizing mass transit and further reducing congestion in our cities and urban places.

For more information: The Official Google Blog

Posted in: Alex Felts,bus,transit,video