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My general question is as listed in the title - does Google Maps have ferry schedules and make use of them in selecting a recommended route?

As a specific example, suppose I'm in Wałbrzych in Poland, and I ask Google Maps to get me to Nykøbing Falster in Denmark, and I want to leave now. For this journey there there are two possible ferries: Rødby-Puttgarten or Gedser-Rostock. To determine the optimal route, Google Maps should estimate how long it will take me to get to Puttgarten and then how long I'll have to wait for the next ferry departure, vs. estimating how long it will take me to get to Rostock and how long I'll have to wait for a ferry departure there. Plus the ferry sailing times and the times from Rødby or Gedser to Nykøbing Falster.

But a calculation like that requires that Google Maps has a database with the ferry schedules. Does it?

RenniePet
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2 Answers2

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To be included in Google Maps for trip planning, Google must be able to import its schedule data, for example through a GTFS Static or GTFS Realtime feed. A Google Transit Partner relationship might also be required, however, so simply appearing on TransitFeeds or the like is probably not a reliable guide, or at least less reliable than simply plugging your origin and destination into Google Maps and seeing what results you get.

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Scandlines operates both the Gedser-Rostock and Puttgarden-Rødby ferries, but the results seem to differ depending on whether you plan the trip as a drive, a walk, or using public transportation. As noted by @Tor-Einar Jarnbjo in comments,

… Google does indeed use GTFS to incorporate route planning for public transport in Google Maps, but the currently supported GTFS version does not distinguish between passenger and car ferries. Without knowing the details, I would expect car ferries to be modeled in Google Maps as roads with a special attribute and not as public transport. Actually, if you plan a trip using public transport, both ferries (Rostock-Gedser and Puttgarden-Rødby) are being known to and used by Google Maps with the correct schedule

Google does incorporate schedule information for, for example, the Staten Island Ferry in New York. You can looking through the list of cities covered to see if it's worth a go.

choster
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It's one thing to include ferry schedules and the time taken for the actual ferry trip. But it's another to include the ferry wait times. That is, the time you have to sit in a queue waiting to get to the toll booth and the ferry holding area. Where I live (Washington State, USA Pacific Northwest) at peak times there can be several hours wait. And there's no reservation system in place for the busy commuter ferries, so you just have to get there early and hope for the best. There are web cameras so you can check how many miles back the holding lines go.

DuncanT
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