Google Maps does not show buses and subways in Frankfurt
M43 minutes on the S-Bahn or 52 minutes on foot – that’s a winner Google Maps as a route. Christian Preuss from Frankfurt just wants to go shopping in the north-west center. Not a long way from his apartment in Bockenheim. What Google Maps doesn’t show: With the tram 16 and the subway U9, the route takes only 14 minutes, much faster than with the routes from Google. “The fact that Google Maps doesn’t show that correctly is pretty backwards, it just works better in other cities,” says the 34-year-old Preuss. He uses the RMV every day, but he is also often annoyed that Google Maps does not suggest buses, trams or subways in his routes. That’s why he launched a petition last year. With better routes, which also include buses and all trains, local public transport in and around Frankfurt can become more attractive, says Preuss.
The example is just one of many. For the route from Berger Straße to the Zeil, Google Maps does not find any connection with buses or trains. The U4 runs the route in five minutes. Instead, you should walk 25 minutes. From the main cemetery, the U5 takes you to the main station in twelve minutes, Google Maps recommends a 50-minute walk. All areas of the city that are not accessible by S-Bahn, but by subway, tram and bus are affected. In addition to Frankfurt, this applies to the entire area of the RMV, which carried 808 million passengers a year before the pandemic. Google Maps is preinstalled on many smartphones and is used by more than a billion people worldwide. It shows these passengers either only the S-Bahn or unnecessarily long footpaths.