Google Transit Adds Chicago

Chicago is the latest addition to Google Transit.

Read the announcement here.

Thousand Oaks, CA added to Google Transit

Google Transit expands yet again with the addition of Thousands Oaks Transit (TOT). Google Transit now supports 17 transit agencies in the U.S.

Read the announcement here.

Google Transit may be coming to New York and New Jersey soon

Bloomberg is reporting that Google is working with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New Jersey Transit to add them to Google Transit.

Google May Start New York Transit Guide in Bid for Ad Sales

By Chris Dolmetsch and Ari Levy

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the most popular Internet search engine, provides online transit guides for more than a dozen U.S. cities including Dallas and San Diego. Now it may take on the biggest.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New Jersey Transit, which together carry more than 9 million people a day, are working with the company to give users one place to go for maps, schedules and trip planners. The agencies serve the five New York City boroughs and suburbs in New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester County and Long Island.

``We are always looking for ways to incorporate technology in what we do,'' Jim Redeker, assistant executive director of New Jersey Transit, said in a telephone interview from Newark. Google has ``good experience at making this work.''

...

Google doesn't disclose its local ad revenue, and Christoph Oehler, product manager for maps and transit, declined to say whether the company is negotiating with the New York and New Jersey agencies.

New Jersey Transit plans to share maps and schedules with Google as part of a pilot program to post more information aboutthe system on the Web, Redeker said. MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin confirmed the New York agency is also working with Google Transit. He declined to give specifics.

The metropolitan New York market would be the biggest and most complicated Google has tried to crack with its online guide. The New York MTA had 8.27 million daily riders as of Dec.31 and runs the city's subway and buses and the Long Island and Metro-North railroads, the busiest U.S. commuter railroads. The system has 468 subway stations, 35 fewer than in all other U.S.cities combined. New Jersey Transit, the largest statewide transit system in the U.S., carries about 857,000 passengers daily on buses, commuter trains and light-rail lines.

Bus ridership in Duluth, Minnesota, increased 12 percent since the Google system was added to its site last year, said Tom Elwell, marketing director for the local transit authority.

...

Some agencies, including New York's MTA and New Jersey Transit, have trip planners on their own Web sites, as does HopStop.com, a New York company started in 2004 that offers planners for cities including New York, Boston and Chicago. Travelers may be more inclined to get directions from Google because they already use its other mapping services, rather than trying to navigate local transit Web sites.

Google Transit Expands Again

Google Transit has added three more transit systems bringing the total number to sixteen plus Japan. The new transit systems are in California, Nevada, and Texas:

Dallas, Texas - Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)

Humboldt County, CA - Humboldt Transit Authority

Las Vegas, NV - Las Vegas Monorail Company

The announcement was posted on Google Transit discussion board on Google Groups

Enhanced Transit Info Directly on Google Maps

Earlier this year, Google added public transit stops directly on Google Maps. Google is now improving on that by adding more information about the stops. You can now click on the stop icon on the map and get information such as next departure times, what lines serve a specific station, and/or a link to the transit agency. The level of detail varies from city to city, but they are continually working to add more information.

Adding transit agencies to Google Transit needs the cooperation of the agency, but Google can make these enhancements to Google Maps using information from the transit agency web site and other information sources.

Two more cities added to Google Transit

Google recently announced the addition of two more cities to Google Transit. You can now use Google Transit to get around San Diego and Reno using public transit.

Google Transit Goes to Japan

Trip planning for Japan is now available on Google Transit. Google Transit has expanded to Asia by adding all regional and national rail networks, domestic airlines and ferries in Japan. In addition to Japan, there are ten transit systems in the United States available on Google Transit.

Please continue to contact your local transit agency to encourage them to submit their route data to Google Transit.

Getting Started with Google Transit (for transit agencies)

This was posted on the Google Transit Google Group...

Getting Started with Google Transit

NOTE: the intended audience for this WebEx is transit agencies
interested in being part of the Google Transit Trip Planner.

April 10, 2007 11 - 12 PDT - http://tinyurl.com/2hopxg
April 11, 2007 10:30 - 11:30 - http://tinyurl.com/2afy8g

About the 1-hour Presentation:
Public Transportation and Google: answers to some of the most
frequently asked questions about Google Transit, and an overview of
how to get your agency's data onto the Google Transit Trip Planner.

In February, Tom Sly delivered similar presentations at APTA
TransITech in New Orleans, and at the APTA Marketing and
Communications workshop in Las Vegas. The purpose of this Webinar is to provide agencies with an update on a couple of exciting new developments with the Google Transit Program and to provide agencies with the opportunity to hear directly from two of our participating agencies.

About the Presenter:
Tom Sly is part of Google's New Business Development team, where he
is focused on supporting new products through strategic partnerships.

Panelists:
Bibiana McHugh: IT Manager of GIS & Location-Based Service, TriMET
(Portland, OR). Portland's TriMET was the first agency to "go-live"
with the Google Transit Trip Planner.

Denise DuCharme: Chief Information Officer, Capital Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (Auxtin, TX). Capital Metro is the latest
addition to the Google Transit family.

Public Transit Stops Available on Google Maps

Google has recently added public transit stops to Google Maps. Now when you use Google Maps in major U.S. cities, public transit train stops are now marked directly on the map. This is a good intermediate step to having a full version of Google Transit for these cities. Google needs the cooperation of the transit agencies to set up Google Transit, but it is straightforward to simply add the stop locations to Google Maps.

So although you can't fully plan your trip with Google Transit, you can at least find the closest train stop to your destination.

I've confirmed train stops are marked for New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia. What other cities have been updated?

Austin, TX latest addition to Google Transit

Google recently announced that Austin, Texas is the latest addition to Google Transit. You can now figure out how to get around Austin using Capital Metro. Google Transit now supports a total of ten metropolitan transit agencies.