Just a week after a major update roll out, Google has given its Maps service for iOS, Android and the Web, a high dose of transport date in the UK on Tuesday.
Google Maps has received 17,000 routes including data of bus, train, ferry, tram and subway with 34,000 stopping points from England to Wales to Scotland, one of the biggest additions of transportation information ever.
“In Britain, public transport is part of the national psyche,” Google Maps product manager David Tattersall said in an interview with the Guardian. “The biggest changes will be on mobile, as devices are becoming more and more powerful and they’re things we spend a lot of time with. We’re aiming to really improve users’ lives.”
According to the report from The Next Web, Google was able to add this transport data as the UK government and transportation companies have opened up their data for developers to use.
“Government and transport operators have worked together closely over the past decade to make transport data available and to develop journey planning services like Traveline and Transport Direct,” explains Baroness Kramer, Minister of State for Transport. “Public transport in Google Maps builds on this work.”
Google has now added the schedules from National Express to its Maps and has partnered with Traveline which aggregates data from more than 1,500 local and national operators like Centro in the West Midlands. With this update, Google Map users can now search for routes, departures and interchanges, including the distance between stations, route with fewest transfers.
