We pushed out a new version of rome2rio this week. Here are some of the improvements we made:
Support entering a country, state or airport code
We regularly analyze our search logs to see what sort of queries users are entering into rome2rio. We noticed that users sometimes input countries (such as France, Peru or Canada) and states (such as Hawaii or California) rather than cities and towns. Previously rome2rio did an OK job of these queries, presenting routes to a random location in the middle of the country.
With this release we now specially handle these queries by showing the users routes to the major towns and cities in the region. Perhaps you’re planning a trip to Japan but don’t mind whether your adventure starts in Tokyo, Osaka or Fukuoka? It makes perfect sense to be able to search rome2rio for routes to Japan.
We also noticed plenty of users inputing IATA 3-letter airport codes into rome2rio, and we now support these properly.
Better European train data
We’ve improved the quality of the underlying train data that rome2rio uses to find routes. Our coverage in Switzerland has improved a lot. We’ve also added more local trains in Europe (eg: subways, trams and S-Bahns) including the London Tube.
Rome2Rio now also factors the train frequency into consideration when presenting routes. Previously, infrequent trains such as the thrice daily express service from London Elephant + Castle to Gatwick Airport was recommended to users, giving them an unrealistic expectation of the typical travel time to Gatwick airport from Vauxhall (now fixed).
Various UI improvements
Based on feedback from our users, we’ve made various minor changes to rome2rio’s UI. The new layout is cleaner, the Show prices button is more prominent, selecting flights for purchase is more intuitive, and the icons on the map and left rail makes the transport modes clearer.
We hope you like these changes and enjoy watching rome2rio continue to evolve. We’ve got plenty more exciting stuff in the pipeline that we’ll post about in the next few months. Stay tuned.