From the people who brought us the finest search engine on the Web and our beloved Gmail… From the people who brought us the finest search engine on the Web and our beloved Gmail comes a new feature: Google Transit trip planner.

Before we get into what this is all about, it’s time for all of us who have struggled to navigate our way through teeny-tiny bus maps and that heinous Port Authority Transit Web site to let out a sigh of relief.

There. Didn’t that feel good?

Google launched its new transit trip planner yesterday in five cities across the country, including Pittsburgh. This new tool far exceeds the poorly designed and ill-maintained Port Authority Web site that endlessly frustrated users who had to look at every individual bus route in order to plan trips. The maps on the agonizingly slow Web site were too small and users had to struggle to enlarge them, adding even more aggravation to transit travel.

Google Transit is everything you’d expect from Google: graphically rich, user-friendly tools that help riders easily navigate bus routes, making a trip from Oakland to the Waterfront a breeze. Port Authority will update Google on changes in all of the 215 scheduled routes. Google will even calculate walking time from a starting location to the nearest bus stop accommodating your trip.

Although Port Authority contacted Google to bring this service to Pittsburgh, PAT had little input in the development of the service. The service underwent its trial run in Portland, Ore., earlier this year.

According to an article in yesterday’s Tribune-Review, local Google users saw the Google Transit trial in Portland and wanted to bring it to Pittsburgh

Sure, it seems like Google is taking over everything, and maybe it is – how many times have you used “Google” as a verb? It’s refreshing to have a resource like this available. It’s only going to mean good things for the Port Authority, whose ridership could very well increase because of this new feature.

This is a great tool for Pitt students new to the area, too. People who isolate themselves in Oakland, fearful of getting lost somewhere in Allegheny County if they risk a bus ride, don’t have an excuse not to use the buses now.

Port Authority made a great move by connecting with Google. Perhaps features like this will make our city more attractive and accessible to visitors. Plus, the huge volume of traffic on Google sites won’t hurt us either.

While Port Authority will maintain its Web site, hopefully Google Transit will help Port Authority to re-focus its assets and boost ridership. We have considerable faith that this is a great move for Pittsburgh.