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Public transportation can feel intimidating, especially when you're visiting a new city, exploring more efficient routes for your daily commute, or simply trying to reach your office on time before rush hour swallows you up. Thankfully, Google Maps has many public transit-focused features that can make your journey feel hassle-free and strip the stress from navigating unfamiliar routes and locations. Here are four features that you should check out now.
Transit Layer
Add a layer of convenience to your route
Google Maps has a feature that converts normal navigation into a custom experience tailored for your needs, and it's hiding in plain sight. This is the Layers feature, which lets you customize your map view by adding geographic data, details, and visualizations to your base map.
For public commuters, the layer to look out for is the Transit Layer. Adding this layer to your map instantly highlights nearby bus routes, metro lines, and train stations. To add this layer to your map, tap the stacked squares icon in the top right corner of your screen. Then, under "Map Type," select Transit (or Public Transport, depending on your version) to watch relevant public transit details and lines come to life. This has made unfamiliar and new public transit routes feel much less intimidating for me, especially when I travel to other cities.
Preferred Modes + Connecting Modes
Customize your trip every time
When you use Google Maps for your public transit journeys, there's a lot you can do to truly make every trip feel like your own. One of these is setting up your preferred modes of transit. I try to avoid long bus journeys and prefer subway trips, and, of course, every user has their personal picks of their favorite/most efficient transit routes, which Maps allows you to set up.
To do so, search for any location on Maps. Then, tap Directions > Public Transport. Now, find the filter icon (this will be right next to the "Public Transport" menu's title). From this "Trip Options" menu, you will be able to see Preferred Modes, where you can toggle on or off your preferred transit modes (these can differ by region, so I recommend doing your research or finding out the best journey for you before you enable or disable anything).
From here, you can also make a few other adjustments to make your public transit journey smoother. Under "Connecting Modes," you can enable or disable other transport modes you can combine with public transport, if that can make your journey more convenient. You may be able to see options like "Drive," with many regions even showing connecting transit apps (Uber, Lyft, etc.) for a quicker trip.
Smart route options
Find the right way to reach your destination
The first route Google Maps suggests isn't always the one you'll want to take. Alongside the fastest route, Maps often shows alternatives with fewer transfers, shorter walking distances, different departure times, or better arrival times, giving you more flexibility depending on your priorities. To set this up, there is one more Trip Options setting for public transit journeys that can make a drastic difference in how you navigate every trip.
Go to the Trip Options menu (navigate as you would to go to Preferred Modes and Connecting Modes). Here, go to "Route options" and select what you prioritize the most on a public transit trip: you can choose between the best route, fewest transfers, least walking, wheelchair accessible, and lowest cost. These come in handy in very unexpected situations. For example, if I'm carrying luggage or traveling somewhere unfamiliar, I almost always choose the route with fewer transfers over the one that is the most efficient route.
While you can only pick one of these options to optimize your route, I do wish Google Maps would bring in a way to select multiple route options to enable, say, commuters with disabilities to still find the most efficient route for them.
Transit notifications
Stay in the know about your trip
One of the easiest ways to make public transit less stressful is to let Google Maps monitor your trip for you. Once navigation begins, the app can remind you when it's time to leave, notify you when your stop is approaching, and update your route if there are delays or disruptions along the way.
Make sure you have Google Maps' notifications settings enabled (and have device settings set up to receive notifications from the app), so that once you begin your public transit journey with Google Maps, you can receive alerts throughout your journey, even if your screen is locked.
To enable notifications for smooth public transit trips, open Google Maps and tap your profile picture, then go to Settings > Navigation, then toggle on "Get transit alerts when it's time to get off."
I rely on such trip notifications a lot, because it means I don't have to constantly check whether I've missed my stop or if a delayed train or bus has messed up my connection.
Customizing navigation for your needs
The best part about Google Maps (and other navigation apps) is that with the right features and settings, you can set up navigation to be most convenient for your preferred mode of transport, be it public transport, driving, or walking.
