Google Transit launches metro & RER directions in Paris

Google France announced today that Google Maps will now include public transit directions, a tool that has long been lacking for Paris users, considering the amazing public transportation here. The public transit directions include approximations for departure and arrival times for RER (trains), the Metro, and the bus system.
Coming off the release os iOS6, where even major metro stations (Opera) are missing from the maps, and there’s no hint of public transportation directions, this is a huge win for Google Maps, whose public transit directions are also available in HTML5, if not a little buggy at the moment. The service, of course, is also available on Android in a much more complete and functional version.

Google announced earlier this year that they would be submitted an iOS native Google Maps application to the Apple App Store, though they weren’t entirely sure they wouldn’t get rejected. WIth features like Google Transit available in 500+ cities & regions, including every major city in France, London, Berlin, and most major cities in Europe, this could certainly be a killer for Apple, who abandoned the search engine’s map system as their default maps app on iPhone.