Some may not have noticed, but Google has been in the trip planning business with their Google Transit website since December 2005, and few can doubt their intention to make it a part of their full service. This service has also been integrated into Google Earth.
It’s a great service. Here’s a map I made between my old apartment at The University of Texas and the Capital Metro downtown office. It’s easy to use and includes transit icons that I like.
So what’s the big deal? As with most trip planners, the site offers step-by-step directions with maps, itineraries, estimated trip time, fare costs and other options. Having been up for approximately 20 months, the service only includes 13 regions and the country of Japan.
The big deal is Google offers something that most transit agencies do not: familiarity.
Google Maps is the Wal-Mart of map services, popping up all over the place and snuffing out competitors. It’s what the Real Estate business calls a ‘Category Killer’ because every other type of store in that category is forced out of business when it shows up.
Google also has the advantage of availability because many new products, including the iPhone, use Google Maps as the default map service of choice. How many portable devices can you name that come with built-in trip planners?
There’s another, more recent layer to this development. Google recently announced the addition of Google Mapplets. This allows individuals to create their own maps on top of existing Google Maps, sort of a watered-down version of the popular GIS software like ArcGIS with the Google Map as the basic layer.
It should be no great shock that the feature they advertise in their introductory video includes a home-made version of the CTA Train Map. Expect a lot more of this to occur in the future.
This represents a great opportunity for transit agencies to get in on the ground floor by offering up the most precise map and schedule info to Google (just email: labs-transit_content@google.com) and building their own Google Mapplets maps.
When Google gets involved with something it’s generally a matter of if, not when. As Google continues to set standards for online mapping, it is incumbent upon transit agencies to provide the most reliable data in order to give riders the best information.
For those wanting to increase ridership, closing the information gap is the key. Here’s a chance to put millions of dollars of private developer time to work for your transit agency and put more people on buses and trains.
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