So why can't they show the routes for bus lines???<p>Clicking on a metro station in lots of cities will draw colored lines of all the metro stations that pass through it. E.g., Times Square:<p><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=type:transit_station:%22Times+Sq+-+42+St%22&t=h&ie=UTF8&hl=en&view=map&ftid=0x89c259ab49ca241b:0xb22a3843c5b03c10&ftt=5140&geocode=FVrgbQIdWQqX-w&split=0&sll=40.755290,-73.987495&sspn=0.000000,0.000000&iwloc=A&ved=0CBQQpQY&sa=X&ei=RBosUNbmFuWSxQHa4YGYAw" rel="nofollow">https://maps.google.com/maps?q=type:transit_station:%22Times...</a><p>But this doesn't work for bus routes, which would be 1000x more useful.<p>Because, with a metro, you can look at a metro map and easily figure out which lines pass through the station -- there are usually only 1, 2, or maybe 3.<p>But in a lot of cities across the world, there might be 30 bus lines that stop at an intersection, and printed maps don't even exist of the bus lines because there are just too many to draw.<p>But Google could show the 30 bus lines instantly, so you could actually see how they fan out the further away you get, and you can easily figure out which of the 30 buses, if any, go to your desired neighborhood.<p>I've been waiting for this feature for YEARS... and it still doesn't exist. :(
Note that Google's transit directions were a true 20% project when it launched in 2005: <a href="https://plus.google.com/109412257237874861202/posts/bwFAz9KZye2" rel="nofollow">https://plus.google.com/109412257237874861202/posts/bwFAz9KZ...</a> When it launched, it was all 20%-ers working on it.
I find it interesting that Apple is adding driving navigation with no transit or bicycle directions (apart from third-party apps) while Google seems to be really putting a lot of effort into public transit. This is all while car ownership is plummeting among youth, the people who I thought were Apple's core user base.
The submitted blog post from Google says, "Since 2005, we’ve collaborated with hundreds of transit authorities around the world to make a comprehensive resource for millions of riders to find out which bus, train, subway or tram can take them to their next destination." And I will note for the record that in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, where the transit provider is Metro Transit, Google Maps has been for at least two years a BETTER interface for looking up transit trips with easier usability than the Metro Transit website. I have discovered many interesting public transportation connections between unlikely places at unlikely hours of the day by searching Google Maps for my trips.<p>The bicycle information is also unmatched, and very helpful in the number-one bicycling city in the United States.<p><a href="http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/1-bike-city-minneapolis" rel="nofollow">http://www.bicycling.com/news/featured-stories/1-bike-city-m...</a><p>On 8 October 2010, I had a very gratifying reply from the Google Maps team after reporting a problem with many of the Google Maps bicycling directions in Minneapolis:<p>"Your Google Maps problem report has been reviewed, and you were right! We'll update the map soon and email you when you can see the change.<p>"Report history
"Problem ID: A12D-84A0-3A9F-A05E<p>"Your report: Many biking directions to locations on the West Bank campus of the University of Minnesota from suburban locations west of Minneapolis mistakenly go across the Mississippi River to the East Bank campus, even when the correct destination address is entered to select the bike route."<p>I was glad they fixed the problem, and especially glad about the friendly way their follow-up was communicated to me. It is this kind of response to a user error report that makes me eager to tell friends about Google Maps and leads me to tend to forget that there are still other companies in the geographical information business. Similarly, after I made a couple of suggestions to Google, it seems that Google has systematically improved its once APPALLING mapping of youth soccer fields in Minnesota, crucial for me as the parent of three "travel" soccer players.
Also a key play in Google Now. From my office I automatically get a card for the bus stop located outside- I switched it off because I don't use that stop, but I'm interested to see how close I have to get to the subway for it to work.
To achieve this, Google has introduced the GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) format [1] which is becoming the preferred way to publish transit data. Hundreds of transit agencies around the world are publishing their GTFS feeds, enabling many hackers around the world to make applications that consume this data and improve users' travel experience.<p>[1] <a href="https://developers.google.com/transit/gtfs/reference" rel="nofollow">https://developers.google.com/transit/gtfs/reference</a>
This is cool, but I can't help thinking that it's unambitious, for Google. Let's imagine:<p>The product is not called 'Google Transit', but 'Google Teleport'. It is an auction-based system, like adwords. You click where you want to be, instantly a variety of costed journey options are listed, each of which can include segments using anything from walking to taxis to public transport to international flights.
Google takes it seriously as a product, because it generates revenue. Over time, the system allows new, cheaper, faster, more energy-efficient transport options develop, such as minibus-taxis, which pick up and drop multiple passengers whose routes coincide.<p>Well, it's nice to dream. I think that it will happen eventually, probably as an outgrowth of one of the taxi-based startups.
The HN title is misleading. According to the article, Google Maps hit a milestone of 1 million public transit stops, Google didn't recently add 1 million stops.