Finding your way around Victoria by bus has been made a lot easier.

Following the lead of other cities, B.C. Transit has uploaded its Greater Victoria schedule and routes into Google Maps' database as a pilot project.

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The information includes bus stop locations, departure times, route numbers, estimated times of arrival and walking routes.

The feature works on devices that can run Google Maps, including computers and smartphones.

Travellers can go onto the Google Transit section of the Google Maps website (google.com/transit), select directions, click on the bus icon and enter the trip starting point and destination.

The program then pops out the top three route options, estimated trip time and a detailed map.

The information can also be found through Google's map apps on smartphones.

"It's really quite accurate," B.C. Transit spokeswoman Joanna Linsangan said. "It's quite nice because it also provides you with your walking distance [and] the travel time on the bus."

The system went live this week.

Victoria Regional Transit chairman Christopher Causton said he has yet to try the Victoria trip planner but has used similar ones in areas such as Vancouver.

"I'm looking forward to actually using it," Causton said.

"It's something I think is a high priority and it will help drive ridership. So I think it's great."

Linsangan said B.C. Transit started looking into the system last March. Considerable data had to be collected and verified to make it operational, she said.

"We have just about 2,500 bus stops all across the capital region. What we had to do was, number one, ensure the stops were at the exact location and get the geographical co-ordinates of every single stop, and then synchronize them with every single trip we provide every week," Linsangan said.

"We provide 6,300 trips in a week so that process took some time, obviously, given the size and scope of the regional transit system."

Currently, 448 transit systems worldwide use Google Transit including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax and Toronto.

Linsangan said the Greater Victoria program is considered a pilot at this stage and B.C. Transit is welcoming feedback from users.

"We're encouraging everyone to get in touch with us if you see any findings that may be incorrect. Or if you're a regular transit commuter and your regular route doesn't pop up as one of the top three options, to let us know. Our whole goal is to make sure the information we have online is as accurate as possible."

The system is not yet as sophisticated as the one in Vancouver which features information such as construction detours.

For that type of information, B.C. Transit is steering people to their website.

"We don't have the ability right now to advise people who are using Google Transit if there's a trip cancellation because of adverse highway conditions or if there's a detour because of construction," Linsangan said.

bcleverley@timescolonist.com