Congrats once again to Chris and the Google Maps team for their launch of Transit for Chicago!

The launch was picked up by a few local and national news sources.

“Google Transit may well become the world’s best way to run a railroad.”
Wired Blog Network

“Having CTA service information on the universally familiar Google Web site allows CTA to reach a broader audience and introduce them to the convenience of transit at no cost to the agency,” CTA President Ron Huberman said at a news conference.
Chicago Sun Times

“The Google Transit Web site not only provides CTA travel information but also directions for driving, traditionally the biggest challenge to expanding mass transit.”
Chicago Tribune

Here’s a video introducing Chicago:

In addition to the expansion of their coverage, I noticed that the entry pages for the site are getting cleaned up. The instructions follow on the now classic (Adaptive Path designed) 1-2-3 step presentation used for Blogger. The page is clear and concise and there’s a nice big “Get Directions” button beneath a well laid-out entry form.

Oh, and I think that the image overlaying a route on top of transit authority logos (right) works really well.

Screencasts

The screencasts are yet another great addition to the site. There’s quite a lot of power behind the Transit tool and these videos offer users a quick overview of how to get around.