The addition of LiveSight to HERE Transit, following in the footsteps of HERE Maps, aims to make it easier to spot nearby stations and stops (i.e. the last few hundred metres of navigation). It also helps solves the issue of locating a specific bus stop of transport stop at a busy station (e.g. train station surrounded by multiple bus and tram stops).
Also new in HERE Transit is the provision of built-in, turn-by-turn walks directions in the map and list view, allowing for door-to-door guidance from within the HERE Transit app. It's also now easier to start a journey - a long tap on a station on the nearby screen provides a way to start planning a journey - an alternative to the main journey planner screen.
Another notable change in the latest version is the ability to see favourites with a single tap (via a toolbar button), rather than as a screen in the app's main panorama. This makes it fast to get to favourites, but also help to declutter the main panorama. Favourites can be added, or edited, using other HERE apps, on here.com, or from HERE Transit's route planning view (tap on star icon). Unlike the recently updated HERE Maps, favourites are not divided into categories, but they are synchronised from here.com.
While the above noted changes all add extra polish to the HERE Transit experience, the changes that will have the biggest impact on day-to-day use of the app are the new personalised routing preference options. These allow you to specify a preferred walking speed (slow, moderate, fast), a maximum walk distance (1/4 mile, 1 mile, 3 miles). These will be used to both give a more accurate estimate of arrival time, but will also have an impact on whether the app thinks you can make certain connections (e.g. faster walkers are more likely to catch a close connection) and may also have an impact on which route the app advises you to take (e.g. making a connection over a longer distance for fewer changes).
In addition there are now a number of optional settings that can be changed when planning a route (tap settings button when on route planning screen). These include transport modes (specific what type of public transport you want to use) and the number of changes you are prepared to make (0, 0-1, 0-2, or unlimited). Both of these will have an impact on the routed planned by the app (e.g. can be used to avoid taking the underground).
Collectively the change to HERE Transit represent one of the biggest updates that Nokia has released for its public transport app. In addition new and updated coverage is being added to the app all the time. More than 740 cities are now covered, with the USA, UK, Canada, France, Spain, Italy and Germany getting close to near universal coverage for major cities (though there are exception in all cases, such as the absence of trains in the UK).
Windows Phone Store description:
HERE Transit makes it easier for you to get anywhere by bus, train, and subway. Customise the way you use public transport and quickly compare routes, departure and arrival times and how far you need to walk for each route option. Available in over 740 cities FREE for WP8 in USA, UK, CAN, MEX, FRA, ESP, ITA, and DEU
What's New
- Customise your walking speed, preferred walking distance, number of changes and transport modes for better personalisation
- Spot nearby stations with LiveSight for better orientation
- Get built-in, turn-by-turn walk directions in map and list view for door-to-door guidance
- See your favourites with one tap. Add and edit them with other HERE apps and on here.com
- Long-tap on a station on the Nearby screen to start journey directions
HERE Transit can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Store here (Nokia devices) and here (non-Nokia devices). The new version is for Windows Phone 8 device only. An older version continues to be available for Nokia devices running Windows Phone 7.5.