Apple Maps Transit Directions Expands to Europe: What You Need to Know

Given that Maps' transit directions were built upon acquisitions including HopStop and Embark, users might be left wondering why Apple still supports fewer cities than HopStop once did, and why new cities are coming online relatively slowly.

Apple Maps Transit Directions Now Rolling Out in Europe

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For example, San Francisco includes transit directions 90 miles south to Monterey and Salinas, 65 miles north to Santa Rosa, 80 miles east to Stockton, and includes all of San Jose (technically a larger city than San Francisco) and Silicon Valley, as well as Oakland and the East Bay area.

Apple has similarly stitched together a series of major U.S. cities on the Northeast, stretching from Boston to New York City to Philadelphia to Baltimore to Washington D.C., with train connections stretching north to Toronto in Canada and all the way west to Chicago.Apple currently gets data from over 250 transit agencies, and its station data maps over 16,000 station entrances across supported cities

Each of these areas involve not just adjacent cities and suburban areas, but a massive network of different, overlapping transit agencies. Verosub noted that Apple currently gets data from over 250 transit agencies, and its station data maps over 16,000 station entrances across supported cities.

Rather than just making some transit data available within Maps, Apple has crafted a transit-specific map that includes route lines of subways and streetcars, detailed station maps with labeled entrances, and includes real-time transit advisory information from agencies included in a given route.

Delivering a polished transit experience requires a Maps development workflow that not only collects schedule data from transit agencies, but also involves original research and a local survey of specific transit details. Apple then curates an experience customized for each city before bringing its transit maps online.

A similar pattern is emerging in Europe with London and Berlin (the only two areas currently supporting any transit directions there). Both cities now have national rail line information that covers a large area of the country. Berlin (shown below) includes rail routes stretching west to Hamburg and to Poznan, Poland to the east.

Kanjo said: I don't agree. My take of the same WWDC 11 minute maps"session" video. -maps-cultural-curation-or-cultural-imperialism/The session on Transit Maps talked about transit, not Apple's approach to Maps in general, which as the article noted, has suffered from a quick deployment of unfinished data. On your blog, you look at Japan--a country that hasn't yet introduced its Maps Transit data--and make assumptions about how it will look based on an examination of how two data sources--Yelp and TripAdvisor--inconsistently label Shinto shrines. You also suggest Apple has a Christian bias in labeling religious sites, which is rather off the rails. Compare how atrocious Apple's transit stop information was prior to adding Transit in the SF Bay Area: as I noted back in 2012, Apple didn't even have Caltrain stations in its HQ neighborhood labeled correctly, or sometimes at all. I'd be careful about assuming how Japanese transit will turn out before seeing it.

This update follows the recent United States rollout of Apple's new maps data. If the pattern continues as it did for the US, the EU should begin seeing more areas get transit directions and indoor maps as Apple prepares to launch its updated map database elsewhere.

Over the last 48 hours, Apple Maps has expanded its transit directions coverage across Europe. Using the app, travelers in cities across France, Germany, Spain, and possibly other countries in the EU are now able to access departure times and transit routes for various modes of public transport including buses, trams, metro trains, and more.

As part of its 15th birthday, Google is rolling out a refreshed look of Google Maps on iOS and Android devices and adding such new features as the ability for some transit riders to determine whether their bus or train is likely to be on the warmer or colder side.

In the new Apple Maps update, there are improvements to trip planning, public transit information, accessibility features, walking directions, and place details, and some cities and countries are getting special attention. Some of these upgrades may change slightly since iOS 16 is still in beta, but the main concept of them should remain when iOS 16 is released this fall to everyone.

While you could already add your transit cards for participating transit systems directly to the Apple Wallet app, you can do so now from the Maps app. When getting directions, you may see a prompt to "Pay for Transit with iPhone," with more details below about the type of transit pass available. Tap "Add [Transit Name]," and it should jump right to adding the service in Wallet.

Before iOS 16, Apple Maps had only ten locations with detailed city experiences. These experiences give you three-dimensional maps of the entire city, with enhanced navigation, immersive walking directions using augmented reality, windshield views for drivers, and rich details like road markings, land cover, trees, elevation, and public transit routes. 2ff7e9595c