After much gnashing of teeth and countless requests from the public, Public Transport Victoria will release their transit information in a standardised format allowing for new apps, and more importantly inclusion in Google Maps.
It’s been a long road for Melbournians, with most major Australian cities gaining public transport information in Google Maps several years ago. The incoming Labor government promised the release of the data in the new format as part of their election campaign which led to their successful election last year. According to The Age, Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan advised that ‘work had started on providing Google with the public transport data it needed’.
The new format is the Google friendly General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) which Google uses to include transit information, including schedules and stops for buses, trains and Trams. The new data will allow for directions within Google Maps to include public transport options when requested, instead of showing ‘No Route Found’.
Our Melbourne Ausdroid writers and readers should see the new information in March, we look forward to seeing how it goes once it’s live.
