14.05.14
GB rail data added to Google Maps
Google has updated its Maps app, which now has a comprehensive ‘one-stop-shop’ for public transport, including rail data for Great Britain.
Providing passengers with detail on all modes of public transport – including bus, coach, rail, tram, metro and ferry – the service is powered by ITO World’s new Data Management Platform, Transport DMP.
Tim O'Toole, FirstGroup CEO, said: “This is great news for Britain's public transport users and an important development for the industry. Given the tremendous reach and exposure of Google Maps, a huge number of people will now be able to access accurate and easy to understand public transport information.
“The use of new technology is critical as we encourage public transport use in order to keep people moving and communities prospering.”
Transport DMP uses a complex set of automated algorithms to enhance and enrich open data taken from sources including The National Public Transport Access Node database (NaPTAN), Traveline Public Transport Schedule dataset (TNDS), Transport for London and Network Rail.
David Tattersall, product manager for public transport at Google Maps, said: “Today every available train, bus, tube, tram and ferry in Great Britain are joined up by Google Maps to make a comprehensive one-stop-shop for public transport.
“This has been made possible by the availability of open transport data from partners like Traveline and served through ITO World.”
In total, schedules from nearly 1,500 different transport operators have been integrated, including more than 17,000 different routes and more than 330,000 pick-up points.
Peter Miller, chief executive at ITO World, added: “The platform combines years of transport data knowledge and expertise with cutting-edge technological ‘know how’, allowing us to collate, aggregate and enrich data from various open sources before converting and serving it to our clients in the format they require.”
App options include searching for routes, departures and interchanges, including how far the distance is between each station, which route has the fewest transfers, and what time the next departure leaves. The update is one of Google’s biggest integrations of public transport data.
Tattersall stated: “While national rail data and public transport information is already available in Google Maps for some cities like London, we now provide coverage across the whole of Great Britain. To make this happen we added schedules from National Express, and partnered with Traveline which collates the information from nearly 1,500 local and national operators like Centro.”
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