Google Transit gets a new crown jewel: The Big Apple

September 23, 2008 | MG Siegler | Comments |

New York City loves its public transportation. With more than eight million people crammed in the city and more than twenty million that live in and around it, it makes sense. Google, meanwhile, has been trying to push its Google Transit service to encourage people to get around cities using public transportation. Today, the two meet.

Google Transit is now serving the entire New York metro region. This means the subway, the buses, the rails, the ferry service schedules and even walking directions can now all be easily accessed from the web. Using the Google Transit site (or its corresponding service built in to Google Maps), users can plan trips without the use of a car.

As Google puts it, “Transit is a vital part of the infrastructure that makes cities run efficiently, and can help mitigate congestion, environmental concerns, and increasing energy costs.”

While planning trips in advance is nice, using Google Transit on the go could be the real killer feature. Newer smart phones like Apple’s iPhone and today’s recently unveiled T-Mobile G1, can certainly access this data from their full-fledged web browsers, but Google has also made a mobile version built for older BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile devices, Symbian Series 60 devices and other Java-based phones, according to the Google Mobile Blog.

Google Transit now operates in over 170 cities all over the world. See more in the video below.

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About the Author, MG Siegler

MG Siegler writes about technology trends and new media for VentureBeat, with a focus on mobile topics, social elements and key news stories. Before that, MG wrote about technology on his blog, ParisLemon. Originally from Ohio, MG attended the University of Michigan where he studied film. He's previously lived in Los Angeles where he worked in Hollywood and in San Diego where he did web development. He now lives in San Francisco.

  • Even out here in California, I have learned to love this feature. I walk everywhere!
  • It works really well in the USA and when I'm in the UK it's getting there too..
  • me
    What kind of innovation is this? hopstop.com has been doing this for years now.
  • S
    It shouldn't be a shocking innovation. Google maps + transit has existed for a long time. (I think the new thing is that NYC's transit info is finally made available such that Google maps can use it.)

    Also, I think Google's maps+directions is much more usable, and speedier, than hopstop.
  • Can't wait to check this out. Wondering if it gets real-time info on location of trains and buses (so you can literally run to the stop when you need to).