We recently spent some time in Cyprus, specifically in Larnica. Try as we might, we were unable to get Google Maps to show any bus routes. Why would this be? Are they blocked from showing the routes for some reason?
My initial response was to suggest it’s more likely they just don’t have a good automated source for the information rather than an actual block. I still think that’s true but the problem seems a little more nuanced for Cyprus.
If I look at my city (Seattle, WA) in Google Maps the transit layer only shows lines for light rail, streetcars, etc. For buses you can only see the stops, but if you click on one of them it’ll tell you the route number(s) and schedules and if you click on a route number schedule it’ll show the route (i.e. all the stops).
For Cyprus it does appear to have icons indicating where bus stops are. But clicking on them gives no consistent or complete information and no route details that I can see. So I’m sort of curious about where they’re getting the bus stop location information from such that it doesn’t include even basic route numbers (or why they’re choosing not to display it).
I just checked Google Maps for Columbia, Mo (pop. 121,000) which has had a transit system for decades. I downloaded to-from directions for various sites in town that I know are on the bus lines. No indication of bus service at all - no routes, no bus stop signs, nothing. By contrast, the city’s transit website actually shows real-time bus info, down to the bus icons moving along the routes like PacMan.
I was curious so I looked it up. Google Transit Partners support pages provide a fair amount of detail: Transit Partners Help.
There’s a mechanism for transit authorities to sign up to send Google streams of data in a standard format. Both a static feed outlining the routes, stops, timetables, etc. and a realtime feed that tracks where buses are, service alerts, trip updates, etc. where the authority can send updates every 30 seconds or so. So if your transit authority signed up and did whatever IT work was required to generate the streams they could be available. Unclear how much that would be. It actually surprises me hat they’re savvy enough to provide realtime vehicle locations on their own site but not yet integrated into Google.
Transitland is a worldwide map of all the GTFS feeds they’re able to find. None seem to be available for Cyprus.
The operating agency does seem to have a website with bus route info. Not sure why they haven’t made a GTFS feed available.
The website Rome2Rio does appear to have information about transit routes on Cyprus. If you enter two addresses, it will give you its best guess of how to get from point A to point B; and they will provide a link to the provider’s website (which in this case links you to Cyprus National Transit.) However, I’m not sure how they get their data or how regularly it’s updated.