Uber adds public transportation options to its app

It looks similar to the public transit info you can already find in Google Maps and Apple's Maps app – after putting in a starting point and destination, the Uber app shows what transit lines are nearby, when the next bus or train arrives, and how far you have to go to the beginning or end of the trip. Estimates for when buses and trains are arriving will be provided by Moovit, a service that does real-time tracking and route planning for public transportation. You can already do this in Google Maps, so too will customers buy digital RTD tickets right in the app. That's something that would certainly make getting around via public transit easier, especially for people who aren't familiar with the city they're trying to traverse.

This is just Uber's initial public transit offering; the company says it is making it easier for other transit agencies to partner with the app and see what kind of services it offers. Uber's already made partnerships with a number of other agencies, but this is the first time it is integrating a city's public transportation options right into the app. Given today's announcement, though, it seems likely this service will show up in other cities before too long .