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Community Corner

MassDOT: Regional Transit Schedules on Google Maps

MassDOT has announced that for the first time all public transportation authorities in the Commonwealth including the MBTA and all 15 Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) have their routes and schedules fully accessible on Google Maps.

MassDOT’s MassRIDES Statewide Travel Options Program led the effort, in partnership with Bridgewater State University, to provide assistance to each of the Massachusetts RTAs to compile the necessary data to provide Google Map accessibility.

This effort’s goal is to make all transportation services in Massachusetts available to commuters, visitors and other travelers through Google Maps. The enhanced access to transit routes and schedules through this universally accessible tool improves everyone’s ability to plan travel throughout the Commonwealth whether it’s for commuting to and from work or for leisure. 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. The directions can now guide an individual from one transit station to another with detailed walking directions for the initial and final portions of the trip.

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MassDOT had a unique opportunity to partner with the RTAs statewide and use the local resources of MassRIDES and Bridgewater State University to complete this project. Many of the entities do not have the bandwidth to compile and produce the data required for their system to be available through Google Maps and MassDOT’s effort has helped to bridge this gap.

The collaboration between MassRIDES and Bridgewater State University includes an on-going effort to maintain accurate information for all of the transportation services throughout the Commonwealth. 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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The initiative to bring all statewide transit services online through Google Maps meets MassDOT’s core mission to serve our customers and support our mode shift goal to triple the levels of bicycling, walking and transit users throughout the Commonwealth by 2030.

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