By JESSE GRAHAM
YARRA Valley residents will be able to organise their public transport journeys easier from this week, with bus and train timetables integrated into Google Maps.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan announced on Wednesday 23 March that Google Transit was officially live in Victoria.
The result is that, when searching for directions between areas on Google, public transport information, such as bus, train and tram times – and walking distances between the stops – will be available straight away.
The results will also give an estimated time of the travel, such as one hour, 49 minutes for travel between Healesville and Melbourne.
Previously, travellers would have to punch in their starting point and destination into Public Transport Victoria’s website to receive options.
For those taking a bus from Healesville, looking up bus information meant going to the McKenzie’s Tourist Services website, www.mckenzies.com.au, which states under a timetable that it was last updated in 2009.
Ms Allan said the update would allow users to compare public transport times with walking, cycling or driving, and that timetable data included planned service changes and extra services, such as those for the football season.
“It’s a great improvement to an app many of us use every day, that will make it easier to get where you need to go on our trains, trams and buses.”
Google Australia’s Melbourne office lead Sean McDonell joined Ms Allan for the announcement, and said the update would make finding travel information “faster and easier”.
To use the service, visit www.google.com.au
