SORTA added to Google Transit

Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) bus riders can now plan Cincinnati area trips using mapping website Google Maps. The service, available free at www.google.com/transit, provides riders with customized routes to their destination online and on mobile devices.

SORTA re-numbered and re-named five routes to work better with the Google Transit trip planner, effective with the May 29 summer service change.

“We are very excited to be a part of Google Transit,” said Metro’s CEO Terry Garcia Crews. “Our customers who have been testing the trip planner really like it, and we believe that it’s one more way to make riding Metro easier.”

The transit feature on Google Maps includes support for over 40 languages as well as accessibility for the visually impaired. Other benefits to planning a trip on Google Maps include the ability to connect multiple transit agencies’ services and customized route options provided in Google’s trip planner.

In addition, there is no cost to the agency to provide this service, only an obligation to keep the data updated.