Transit offers a beautiful interface for finding public transit directions

The shortcomings of Apple’s new homegrown Maps app are opening doors for a wide range of other companies who are ready to jump in and fill the void. The poor local search interface creates new opportunities for foursquare, while the lack of public transit directions stands to bolster apps like The Transit App, a beautiful app that’s designed solely for that purpose.

The Transit App shows transit stops and schedules for the nearest routes (or near any location you choose), including real-time schedule data from supported transit agencies. The at-a-glance display shows exactly when the next bus or train is expected to arrive.

Like the old iPhone Google Maps app, The Transit App can plan a route to find the easiest way from Point A to Point B. The start and end points are chosen by dropping a pin on the map or searching foursquare’s POI database (using a relatively new component of the API that facilitates type-ahead searches). The results are overlaid on a map, letting you compare different options quickly.

The Transit App is based on an in-app subscription model. It’s free to use, but only shows the nearest three routes and you’re limited to 20 trip plans. The full subscription, which runs 99¢/month or $4.99/year, shows all nearby transit stops, unlimited route plans and allows city bundles to be downloaded and used offline.

The app currently supports transit agencies in New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Toronto, Houston, Philadelphia, Miami, Boston, San Francisco, Montréal, San Diego, Vancouver, Austin, Ottawa, Calgary, Québec, Winnipeg, Halifax, and Saskatoon with support for Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Seattle and Portland coming soon. It’s integrated with iOS 6 Maps and is already iPhone 5 ready.

This is one of the best looking apps I’ve seen on the iPhone and looks to be incredibly functional to boot. With Apple dropping transit directions, The Transit App looks to be a great replacement.

Give The Transit App a try and let us know what you think in the comments.