Updated (mapping area): Google Maps now includes public transport for Sydney
Update: A reader of ours, Bob Burgess, has done some research and discovered the area that Google Transit Maps covers in Sydney. It covers quite a large area (approximately 150km radius) and includes trains, buses and the ferry. Read the full excerpt from Google+ here.
Oh I just felt I should mention that it now also works in Newcastle, trains busses and the ferry. This probably means it’s been done for the entire city rail network and it’ll work in any NSW cities that run on the same system i.e. you can use the city rail website. I don’t know how far it extends but that probably means good news for Wollongong too
Ok, I did a bit of playing with Google Maps and I think I now have a pretty good idea of the area that is now covered by public transport. It’s basically a huge ring centered on Sydney, as you’d expect. It extends north past Newcastle up to Nelson’s Bay and the areas that are on the south side of Port Stevens, nothing on the north side or going further north so places like Taree, Port Macquarie etc miss out.It extends north-west of Sydney up the Hunter Valley Line as far as about Scone, then seems to stop there. Looking almost directly west of Sydney it extends inland as far as Bathurst, but doesn’t extend to Orange.South of Sydney it extends inland to include Goulburn, but predictably stops short of Canberra, and extends down the coast as far as Nowra but doesn’t go as far as Ulladulla.
If you look on a map that covers an area that’s kind of a semi-circle centered on Sydney, about 150km in radius, except for the bit thrusting out up the Hunter Valley Line which extends up to Scone, a fair bit outside that circle.
All in all not a bad effort for the NSW public transport system. Of course as you head further from Sydney the public transport tends to be increasingly supplemented by private bus companies, so it’ll be less effective further out.
Google has finally helped some Sydney-siders out. El Goog has included Sydney in its Maps directions via public transport. Pretty cool, eh?
Now when you go onto Google Maps and search for directions in Sydney – on top of being able to calculate directions via car, bicycle, and walking – you will see an icon that labels looks like a train/tram/something-on-rails for public transport.
Google have also announced something very special for us ‘Droiders, by allowing navigation on your mobile device. This will give you step-by-step guide that will give you alerts when you need to get off at the next stop or when you need to make a transfer.
It has been found that often Google Maps will opt to not take the ferry – so be weary that your route may be a little longer; or you can choose to take the ferry yourself.
In conjunction with the launch of public transport option on Google Maps, the NSW Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian has said that alongside providing “the best tools and latest technology to help [customers] navigate our public transport network,” they will also be happy to “talk to any developer who wants to use the data to help customers.”
So what happens if you live in Melbourne or Brisbane? You may just have to wait, unfortunately. Or you can email your Transport Minister. Catching public transport in Sydney is a now whole lot easier (at last!).
Source: ItWire
Props to Gurgle for letting us know!
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