Google has introduced the Transit Layer on Google Maps for over 50 cities around the world. The goal is to make finding public transportation info easier for citizens and tourists. When viewing applicable cities in Google Maps, if you want to access the Transit Layer, simply click the More button and select the Transit tab.
The layer should prove helpful when users are looking for ways to get to specific locations. “If you want to book a hotel or make a restaurant reservation you can switch on the Transit Layer and look for the public transport line nearest to the location,” explains Raphael Leiteritz. “If you want to travel from A to B you can quickly familiarize yourself with the public transport network and find out which lines to use and where to change.”
“The Transit Layer is a part of Google Transit,” continues Leiteritz. “Whereas the main Google Transit product has the goal to provide full schedule information and routing, the objective of the Transit Layer is to overlay lines visually on Google Maps. Think of a virtual metro map on top of Google Maps — even when we don’t have itinerary planning available, we want you to be able to see public transit options that are available. Our goal is to be able to offer transit information as an alternative to driving directions wherever possible.”
Cities include: Belo Horizonte, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brasilia, Cairo, Capetown, Caracas, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dallas, Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Ekaterinburg, Essen, Frankfurt, Genoa, Guadalajara, Hamburg, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Kazan, Köln, Lille, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Medellin, Mexico City, Melbourne, Monterrey, Montreal, Munich, Naples, Nizhniy Novgorod, Oslo, Paris, Perth, Portland, Porto, Porto Alegre, Prague, Pretoria, Recife, Rennes, Rio de Janeiro, Samara, San Francisco, Santiago, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Tunis, Vienna, and Warsaw. I would assume that more will follow.
