Google has always prided itself on its maps (Google Maps), a tool in which it has invested a lot of money but which has also cost the company a lot in fines, due to the Street View scandal.
Regardless of all this, however, the company continued to build the Google Maps application step by step and provide useful information for all users around the world.
The latest addition to Google Maps aims to help British citizens who travel frequently by public transport, as well as the huge number of tourists who use extensively for their travels. Including, of course, the thousands of Greek tourists, since London is a common destination, especially during the holidays.
More specifically, Google has added around 17,000 routes and 34,000 stops, making it one of the largest mapping efforts related to public transport in the United Kingdom.
The list includes buses, trains, ferries, metros, trams and underground transport, reports The Guardian newspaper.
Of course, like in many other locations around the world, Google Maps already provides information about public transport in the UK, but this update will bring a lot more information, including departure times, transfer information, the distance between stops, and which routes have the fewest transfers so that someone can easily get to their destination in the shortest time.
Information for Northern Ireland will be added in the future, as the company does not have access to these data sources yet.
For data in the United Kingdom, Google Maps has also added routes from National Express, after signing a partnership with Travelin, which collects data from 1,500 local and national operators.
The update to the app rolled out to the web, Android, and iOS this morning. To get directions to a specific location, you just need to type in your current location and where you want to go. You can then select the bus from the transportation options, and Maps will give you a series of options showing you all the ways to get from one place to another.
You can even edit itineraries and indicate your preferred mode of transportation, such as bus or metro.
If you are now wondering when something similar will happen for Greece… you will probably wait too long. Not only is the data scattered across 10 agencies and difficult to gather in one place, but as we know, we Greeks like the stability of the routes, the accuracy of departure and arrival times, as well as the absolute respect we have for the K.O.K.
