The Regional Municipality of York has become the first transit agency in Canada to offer real-time trip planning on Google Maps.
For the past nine months
York Region Transit (YRT) has been working with Google to create the new online interface which incorporates York's bus-mounted GPS information into the existing Google Maps Trip Planner.
"Previously you could have gone on Google to plan a trip, but it would be based on static information, just the bus times on the schedule," says Rajeev Roy, transportation management systems manager with York Region. "But in the last year-and-a-half Google started developing a real-time interface for a few agencies in US. Once I heard about that, I thought—let's do the same here."
While YRT/Viva has had GPS on their buses since 2009, that information was, until last week, only available on the transit website or via automated email. With GPS data now integrated with Google Maps, users just have to enter a starting address and destination. The Google interface will generate a trip plan, walking directions and map. If it turns out a bus is delayed, users can zoom in on the stop to see the alternative routes that service it.
"It's of great help to our customers," says Roy. "They don't have to get out of their office in advance and wait at a particular stop. If they know there's traffic and they know the bus will be late, they can wait in their office... They can grab a coffee. It does really allow the management of your time much better. And once people feel like they can save time by taking transit, you attract more riders. And of course, this leads to all sorts of good things such as reduced congestion and more sustainable transit."
YRT/Viva riders can access the service by going to
Google Maps and clicking the public transit icon.
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Rajeev Roy, Transportation Management Systems Manager, Regional Municipality of York