Lost in city? Google Transit to the rescue

MUMBAI: Search giants Google have launched a nifty tool to help commuters and tourists navigate across Mumbai. The service uses Google maps to help travellers choose from public transportation options available from any location to any other place in the buslting metropolis.
Users need to visit www.google.com/transit and key in the start and end points of their proposed journey.Google then uses algorithms to churn out the best possible routes.
The application, which is available in desktop and mobile versions, utilizes a database of BEST bus routes as well as the railway routes and schedules on the Western, Central and Harbour lines.
"Mumbai is the first city where we have launched both train and bus transit information," says Manik Gupta, product manager, Maps & Local, Google India. Transit on Google Maps already includes information for Delhi Metro Rail, Kolkata Metro, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Chennai MRTS and Pune city bus services.
Considering that Mumbaikars spend more time stuck in traffic jams than their counterparts in other cities, the tool comes as a handy planner because it also calculates the time a particular route or mode of transport will take.
However, this is not the first application that encourages people to use public transport. The BEST runs its own application on www.bestundertaking.com. "Our website has close to 500 visitors every day. An average of 25% use it daily to access the route network," says Aamir Natterwalla of Overtures Infotech, the designers of the BEST site.