One of the best ways to navigate a new city without a car is to use the public transit data from Google Maps. Just input your destination and Google Maps will offer you the fastest way to get there via public transportation. But Google Maps doesn’t make it easy to find public transit stops near points of interest, which can be annoying, especially when you’re visiting a new city for leisure. Yes, Google will tell you what bus or train to take, where to change, and all that information, but if you want to see the stops near you, you’ll still have to zoom in on the screen and explore the map yourself. Or, better said, you had to zoom in and pan around, because Google Maps is about to get a new feature that plenty of people have been waiting for.
First detailed by Android Police, the new feature is something travelers will totally love. Once the feature makes it to the final version of Google Maps, all you’ll have to do is to open any point of interest in Maps, and the nearest public transportation stops will be displayed, as you can see in the images below.
The new transit info area is called Public transport nearby. All you have to do is tap it and you’ll find in it all the information you need to plan your trip accordingly, including the walking distance to those stops. The feature is excellent for trips to new cities or countries, although commuters who rely on Google Maps to navigate between home and work and explore the town during the day will also find it useful.
The feature was first spotted in India, but it’s supported anywhere there’s a public transportation system that Google Maps covers. The image above contains examples from European cities. This is a server-side change, so you don’t have to do anything to get it. If you can’t see it yet in your app, then it’s not rolled out in your area. Hopefully this feature will make it to all regions soon, though.
