Ireland has had its entire public transport system mapped on Google Maps, meaning commuters and tourists can now easily plan trips and journeys anywhere in Ireland, from door-to-door. Google Maps Transit is now live in Ireland as a result of a partnership between Google and the National Transport Authority. The Authority has provided Google with the route network and timetable data behind their very popular Journey Planner. As a result, all bus services (including commercial operators, Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus), Irish Rail (including the Dart), Luas – and even the Dursey Island Cable Car – are now mapped on Google Transit, and readily available to all Google users planning a trip. Google Maps Transit offers several features to help plan your trip:

• You can specify the desired departure or arrival time;
• It will show more than one trip choice, allowing some flexibility with respect to when you start your journey;
• It will provide an estimated journey time; the departure times of the next bus or tram and the times the service runs during the day;
• It also provides walking directions for the beginning (i.e. to the nearest transit stop) and end of the trip (to your final destination);
• It puts transit data in the context of other useful information such as business listings and street view images

David Tattersall, product manager with Google Maps Transit said that the public transportation systems of over 800 cities were on Google Maps. "It's great to add the towns and cities in the Republic of Ireland to this ever-growing list. With over one billion monthly active users of Google Maps services, more than 50% of global Google Maps usage is mobile, demonstrating the popularity of our mapping services to people on the move.” The new service was officially launched by Public and Commuter Transport Minister Alan Kelly on Wednesday (27 November). "It's all about making it easier for commuters and visitors to use public transport and the experience in other cities is that providing information on integrated transportation services online through a variety of channels can increase passenger usage,” he said at the launch. Google Transit can be accessed from maps.google.ie, or by downloading the Google Maps app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.