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Thanks to the cooperation of the Chicago Transit Authority, Google Transit's coverage now includes the Windy City.  Chicagoans seem to be pretty pleased about the development.

 Google Transit Meets Chicago

Actually, that's an understatement.  We've seen less written when news affected entire countries; this city's inhabitants must take their public transportation seriously.  A full 17 comments have accumulated so far on Chicagoist, and local papers including the Chicago Tribune have covered the update.  On to the Google LatLong Blog, then, where Ron Huberman explained its implications.

"As the second-largest transit agency in the United States, the CTA serves an average of 1.6 million riders per weekday and nearly 500 million rides a year, so being able to provide this new service to our vast ridership and all of the 45 million tourists who visit this great city every year is a great stride in promoting the use and convenience of public transportation," he wrote.

A full eight rail lines and 154 bus routes have been wrapped into Google Transit.  Anyone not familiar with the service (which is connected to Google Maps) can get up to speed by watching this handy video.  And although SES Chicago is still eight months away, we'd encourage everyone to keep this development in mind when the conference rolls around.