Community Corner

Plan Public Transit Trips with Google Maps

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation collaborated with Bridgewater State College to enhance trip-planning capability using the popular mapping program.

By Bret Silverberg

Google Maps is not just for driving directions anymore. Now you can plan your public transit trips in Massachusetts too.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation MassRIDES Statewide Travel Options Program in collaboration with Bridgewater State College have made available all state transit authority routes and schedules—including MBTA and regional transit authorities—on Google Maps.

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An individual can now use Google Maps online or the Google Maps app for Android or iPhone to plan a trip, for example, from the Boston Common to Worcester State College—a task that previously required searching for routes and schedules across multiple websites, according to a MassDOT statement released Monday.

“Having access to transit routes and schedules through this universally accessible tool enhances everyone’s ability to plan travel throughout the Commonwealth whether it’s for commuting to and from work or for leisure,” MassDOT Secretary and CEO Richard A. Davey said in the statement. “This initiative meets our core mission to serve our customers and supports MassDOT’s mode shift goal to triple the levels of bicycling, walking and transit users throughout the Commonwealth by 2030.”

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The statement adds a number of private inter-city bus companies are also participating to make their routes and schedules available to the public through Google Maps, adding to the value of the resource. 


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