When Calgary Transit launched their new website last October, I complained about the lack of Google Transit integration. Well, I guess my complaining has worked because it looks like Calgary Transit is now available when planning trips on Google Maps.

I tested the same scenario that I tried with the old trip planner on Calgary Transit’s website and the results on Google were far better. Instead of showing me a nearly 2 hour trip to get to the office from my house it showed the proper 42 minute trip (includes 10 minutes of walking). Using the system was a breeze as well. Like I mentioned in my original review of the Google Transit system, all you need to do is look for your destination on Google Maps and right click on the map. By adopting a universal system, visitors to our city can easily plan trips by public transit using a familiar system.

I did however find some glitches with the system when I tried to plan a trip from the Shawnessy Future Shop up to the Olympic Oval. Instead of telling me to get off at the University LRT station, it had me get off one stop earlier at the Banff Trail station and told me to hike the rest of the way along 24th Avenue.

Vancouver and Montreal both have Google Transit integration with their transit systems and Edmonton is currently working on getting their transit data sent to Google for inclusion as well. As public transit trip planning becomes more popular in Canada, I can see ridership numbers increase. I’m sure some people call a cab instead of trying to figure out how to travel using transit. When was the last time you used public transit when travelling?

Give it a try next time you plan on taking a trip using Calgary Transit.