January 15, 2022 - The transit feature in Google Maps allows users to view public transportation options and keep track of departure times and stops

IT company Exevio from Rijeka helped implement the Google Transit feature in their city after a year of collaboration with Google, announced the bus company Autotrolej.

Autotrolej allowed Google access to their unified database of routes, timetables and other relevant data. After a successful collaboration of the local bus company with the tech giant, getting around Rijeka by bus will be easier than ever for locals and tourists alike.

Google Transit is a service within Google Maps that allows users to view public transportation options including detailed information about the route; it lists the next few departure times and all the stops between the starting point and the end destination. In Rijeka, for example, the user is guided to the nearest bus stop; once they board the bus, they can track the route along the way and are alerted to the destination stop.

Why enthusiastically report on a feature that’s technically a navigation standard these days? This isn’t exactly groundbreaking technology in this day and age; the Transit feature has been available in Zagreb since 2014, and is also available in Google Maps for Osijek and Pula.

However, it’s something that Rijeka has been sorely lacking until now. With the local bus network being the only available mode of public transportation in Rijeka, the way information is presented leaves a lot to be desired.

Even though the Autotrolej website provides detailed information regarding bus lines, routes and departure times, one would need to know their way around the city quite well for the said information to make sense.

It’s unlikely that first-time visitors to the city would be able to smoothly navigate the bus network based on Autotrolej maps and timetables alone, and Google Transit will certainly help tourists get around town by bus more easily. A small but important step in making the public infrastructure in Rijeka more tourist-friendly.

Locals are sure to embrace the new navigation service as well - this particular local is happy to attest to this. While we do have a solid grasp of all the bus routes in town, departure times and schedules have always been somewhat of an enigma.

Until now, the timetables only specified departure times for the first stop of any given line, and some of the lines operate on considerably long routes. Knowing when a bus is departing from the other side of town doesn’t mean much, especially during rush hour or in busy downtown traffic. Add to that the frequent schedule changes that are easy to overlook, and you end up missing a bus by a few minutes and having to wait for another 20 minutes quite often. 

Unlike the lucky folk in Zagreb where tram stops are equipped with digital displays showing when the next trams are about to arrive, so far in Rijeka we could only resort to waiting around and hoping that a bus will eventually show up. Not anymore!

Thanks to Google Transit, departure times are now listed for every bus stop in town, and even though the information might not be 100% accurate as of yet, it’s definitely a massive help when getting around town by bus.

I put Transit to the test a few days ago to see how reliable and accurate the schedule is in Rijeka. I changed location a few times and used them as starting points, and picked a few random addresses as the end destinations just to get route suggestions and a list of estimated times of arrival. 

In this example, bus no.2 was supposed to show up exactly at 12:00pm at this stop. It ended up arriving a minute early, not too bad!

The other two showed up exactly on the specified time of arrival. It’s a relief to have a bit more certainty when it comes to public transportation - it looks like the dark ages are finally behind us indeed.

While the schedules are currently based on fixed Autotrolej timetables, Google Transit in Rijeka should soon provide public transportation updates in real time as well.

September 3, 2019 - The integrated passenger transportation system by Croatian Railways trains and Autotrolej buses have been put into operation. From September 1, passengers in Rijeka, Bakar and Matulji can also travel by train with Autotrolej tickets at no extra charge, reports HRTurizam.

This is the beginning of the implementation of integrated transport in the Rijeka area, which aims to increase the number of public transport trips, which will lead to a decrease in passenger cars on the roads, an increase in road safety and a reduction in the exhaust gas, the City of Rijeka said.

“The full integration of the railway into urban public transport will follow the construction of the second track between Škrljevo, Rijeka, and Jurdani, and by then this project aims at restoring the habit of using the railway for daily commuting to and from the city. To that end, new stops will be opened by the end of the year in the Bakar and Matulji area, and completion of the stop at the Fenice Theater in the center of Rijeka is expected in January next year,” said Rijeka Mayor Veljko Obersnel.

From now on, trains carry passengers from Šapjane in the west, to Fužine in the east, with passengers using a unique monthly subscription card for transport by train and city buses.

The Agreement on long-term partnership in the development of integrated passenger transport in the City of Rijeka, as well as the Agreement on the promotion of integrated passenger transport using a work, student, and retirement prepaid card, was signed in June this year, when the first passenger train test was organized on the Rijeka - Šapjane - Rijeka route. 

The joint monthly ticket of HŽPP - KD Autotrolej enables train transportation within 4 zones and Autotrolej buses. City trains will operate 12 departures daily between Jurdani and Rijeka, while there will be 14 departures between Fužine and Rijeka - Fužine.

Full implementation of the integrated passenger transport system is expected after the construction of the second railway track from Škrljevo to Jurdani.

The construction of the second track on the existing Škrljevo - Rijeka - Šapjane line includes the reconstruction of the existing railway stations and stops at the section in question and the construction of new railway stops in the function of urban/suburban traffic.

Stations outside the city limits (Jurdani, Škrljevo, along with Matulji, Rukavac and Jušići) will be used as endpoints. The length of the route within the city limits is approximately 18 km.

The following city/suburban railway stations are being constructed along the corridor: Pavlovac, Martinkovac, Marčeljeva Draga, Kantrida / Zamet, Krnjevo, Mlaka, Center (Station), Zagrad, Školjić, Sušak, Caves, Podvežica, Vežica, Draga, Sveti Kuzam.

According to the Croatian Railways' plans, the preparation of all documentation for this project, including property legal preparation, should be completed by 2020.

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