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23 Comments

news

TTC Is Now On Google Maps

By Laurence Lui

20101007ttc-googlemaps.jpg
A sample TTC trip planned using Google Maps.


It’s about time. Launched in 2005, Google Maps has provided transit directions for a number of transit agencies across North America, but up until now, TTC customers haven’t had the benefit of Google-based internet trip planning. That’s changed now, as Google and the TTC have quietly activated Toronto’s transit layer in Google Maps.
To get transit directions, input your start and end points as you’d do for driving or walking directions—but this time, click on the new “transit” icon, and you’ll receive a number of options to complete your trip on the TTC.
The addition of TTC to Google Maps fills in a substantial void in transit directions, as the service is already provided for GO Transit, York Region Transit, and the Hamilton Street Railway. Also, it joins the TTC’s list of notable achievements in customer information in the past year, including a new mobile site, text-based next streetcar arrivals, and more next vehicle displays at subway stations.

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Comments

  • http://undefined xtremesniper

    I just tried it out very briefly, and I find that it seems to work well. I even put a start point in YRT zone and an end point in TTC zone and it handled it fine, even colour coding the stops according to service (blue = YRT, red = TTC). It seems to think that I have to get off the bus and transfer to continue my trip once I cross Steeles, but that’s just a minor thing. It might confuse some people at first but regular transit users would understand.

  • http://undefined Jerzy

    I tried it twice with the same point of origin and destination. Interestingly, my first try at around 16:00 gave me a surface route. My second try at around 16:45 put me on the subway.
    Is it actually smart enough to factor in traffic volumes? that would be impressive.

  • http://undefined helyreilly

    Hmmm… I’ve been able to use http://crazedmonkey.com/toronto-transit-map/ for at least a year.. super handy when figuring out how to use the TTC/get around the GTA by plugging in an address. Glad the TTC and Google have officially partnered ;)

  • http://undefined The Junkyard Triangle

    Good things happen when the TTC cooperates with others.

  • http://undefined GregM

    Yeah, the crazedmonkey overlay has been working for at least 2-3 years, in various releases. It was very helpful, but this will let you incorporate the TTC into the google trip planning results. This beats even the TTC’s trip planner.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    You might say, “Presto!”

  • http://undefined xtremesniper

    @GregM: I can’t reply to your post because I’m on mobile but I just wanted to say that the point about how its better than the TTCs own planner just makes the pain of knowing how much time and money the TTC spent on their own implementation even worse. I can only imagine the same situation will happen with Presto if they continue to insist on wasting money on their own crap when something better already exists.

  • http://undefined jmaxx

    It seems to treat Spadina station as a single point on the map, rather than three separate stations.

  • http://flickr.com/aged_accozzaglia accozzaglia

    Something they do ever so rarely.

  • http://undefined goleafsgo

    What if I don’t want to have to take the VIVA bus to York University?

  • http://undefined Colin

    @xtremesniper: hear hear!

  • http://undefined mark.

    I entered my place to my great-uncle’s. It gave me one route (to a subway station, then walk for a bit). But I know I could go to another subway station where I can catch a bus that drops me off at his front door. Is it missing an “another route” button?

  • http://undefined mark.

    or is it giving your whatever is sooner/quicker?

  • http://undefined David Toronto

    I just tried it for two different destinations.
    TTC has a problem with the bus stops. They want
    me to board the bus on the west side of the street
    to go north. In fact,the bus stop to go north is
    on the east side of Yonge Street. This error is
    repeated when I wanted to go south and west from
    Yonge and College. The instructions were to board
    the bus on the east side of Yonge Street.
    I sure hope they read this and I hope that out-of-town
    visitors aren’t afraid to ask locals if the stop
    is the right one before setting out in the
    wrong initial direction.

  • http://undefined joeclark

    Your enthusiasm is noted, but I would like everyone not to give ammunition to the faction that thought TTC’s trip planner would never be complete, in fact wouldn’t exist, till we sold out to Google. In fact, they wanted the whole thing airlifted to Google right away.

  • http://undefined Stephen

    Wow I just plugged in bloor/Spadina to Bathurst and Major Mackenzie (R.Hill) and instead of sending me across the Bloor-Danforth Line to Yonge and then north, it sent me around the bottom through union and north. Very strange.
    It seems to avoid transfers as much as possible. It also sent me up the 88 bus from Finch station up bathurst, which I didn’t know about but has to be slower than using VIVA and them going across Major MacKenzie Dr.

  • http://undefined Swarley

    It probably told you to go around the loop because it allocates 6 or 7 minutes for any sort of transfer… so in that case the loop would be faster. Maybe they designed it for people in wheelchairs, who knows.

  • http://undefined xtremesniper

    Yeah, it kind of gets a little silly at some points because crossing Steeles Ave (meaning, you’re still on the same bus) allocates time for a 8 minute transfer even though it would probably not even have a delay at all in the first place.

  • http://undefined Kevo

    It’s possible – Google uses its mobile map user’s GPSes to determine the speed that the road is moving at (if they leave maps open, not behind your back). From what I can see in the normal Google Maps, it only shows traffic but doesn’t factor it in. However, in the mobile version it’ll adjust your travel time based on traffic speeds.

  • http://undefined OliversSlave

    I’ve tried church/Wellesley to York University – it’s pretty good, but chooses the wrong bus at Downsview Stn – the 107, instead of the express 196.
    Trying from the same location to a northern Oakville subdivision isn’t good at all. It advises a GO Bus from Union to Square One and then another GO bus from there!! This route takes an hour longer than using the Lakeshore West GO train. So it looks like for intercity travel isn’t up to snuff yet.

  • http://piorkowski.ca/ qviri

    In this particular case you have no reason not to. TTC fares/transfers are accepted on Viva up to York University.

  • http://undefined powergyoza

    Ok great! But does it outdo http://myttc.ca? I’ve been using that for 2 years now and find it pretty reliable.

  • http://undefined gttavisions

    Oakville Transit isn’t on Google yet, so it thinks that the only way to get to Northern Oakville is by 407 bus via Square One. The directions it told you is correct given the circumstances.