Melbourne is perhaps days away from being able to use Google Maps to plan a public transport journey across the city - something that can already be done in every other capital in the country - after the Andrews government released key timetable data on Monday.
The release, in the GTFS format Google uses to provide information on how to use public transport to get around scores of cities around the world, will bring Victoria in line with the rest of Australia, several years after other states released the data to app developers.
It means a person plotting a journey from one part of the city to the other on Google Maps will find options for public transport where the choice is currently limited to driving, cycling or walking. The absence of timetable data in a format Google can use has long frustrated public transport and tourism advocates.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the news via Reddit, the self-described "front page of the internet".
In so doing Mr Andrews compared a Google Maps entry on a journey from Queen Victoria Market to the MCG that provided no information on how to get there by public transport with one showing a string of options between central Sydney and Bondi Beach.
"It's not good enough and we're about to change it," he said.
"Soon you'll be able to find your way on the apps and websites you use everyday."
The data release was long overdue, Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said.
"The public fund the entire network and we should have access to this information so that Google and others can use it to make life easier for passengers," he said.
It will now be up to Google to use the data release to include Melbourne's timetable and route information in Google Transit.
The former Coalition government also released the state's timetable data about 12 months ago, but in a more limited format that Google cannot use.
