Melburnians and public transport users short-changed by Google Maps

Public transport advocates say it’s a ‘mystery’ as to why Melburnians can’t use Google Maps to plan their public transport journeys.

In March, the Andrews government announced it had released key timetable data to Google to bring Melbourne in line with every other major capital city in the state.

But eight months on, 3AW Drive discovered Google Maps still can’t be used to plan a journey via public transport.

Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said the ball was in Google’s court.

‘Public Transport Victoria has released timetable data and in fact a number of app providers have loaded it up,’ he said.

‘So if you go to the lesser known Bing maps and some of the others, you will find you can plan a trip by public transport.

‘But for some reason Google Maps doesn’t have this yet. Every other state in Australia now has this.’

Listen: 3AW Drive investigates why Melburnians can’t plan their PT journeys on Google Maps