LA Metro Transit Data Available on Apple Maps

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) announced Dec. 31, that the L.A. County transit agency’s bus and rail data is now available in Apple Inc.’s Apple Maps application that comes pre-installed on all new Apple devices, including phones, tablets and desktop computers.

The introduction of Metro’s transit data in Apple Maps gives app users the ability to view Metro’s bus and rail schedules and service alerts. It also allows users to plan multi-modal trips that incorporate walking, bicyling and transit, including step-by-step walking directions to the nearest station entrances, and estimated travel times.

“With more Metro riders using mobile devices and applications than ever before, it’s important we continue to forge partnerships with technology companies like Apple to bring our transit information to where our riders are looking and where it can be used best,” said Metro CEO Phil Washington.

The majority of visitors to Metro’s website metro.net view it on mobile devices and Apple devices account for 36 percent of that mobile traffic. Metro’s mobile app, Go Metro Los Angeles, generates about 1 million sessions per month with 15 percent of those originating from Apple devices.

The Apple agreement followed similar public-private partnerships Metro has established with Google and Waze. Metro negotiated special data-sharing agreements to ensure access and control liability regarding the use and accuracy of Metro’s data.

With the addition of Apple Maps, all of the most widely-used mobile transit apps now include Metro’s transit data natively. One distinction between Apple Maps and its competitors is that it provides precise step-by-step transit station entrance and exit mapping information.