I just want transit directions back in the maps application!
This. I knew that Apple Maps would get off to a rough start the second they announced it was not going to have transit capability. It was an early admission they simply couldn't match Google's offerings. Honestly, I already have a app to do turn by turn directions. And there are many to choose from, even if they aren't free. Each app covers the entirety of the US, if not many places in the world. By moving away from transit coverage, Apple has left transit users out in the cold. There is no app I can buy or download that will provide me transit coverage for most cities in the US or world. Even Bing maps have integrated transit capability, although they don't have the coverage that Google does - at least they make an attempt.
Google Transit was an unbelievable game changer when it comes to navigating mass transit. Before a trip to an unfamiliar city I used to have to spend hours comparing regular maps, transit maps and timetables, sometimes from multiple agencies. Bus travel was near impossible due to the complexity if one was unfamiliar with the area - so one was mostly limited to rail infrastructure with it's clearly defined stops that are easy to understand. Now, when I arrive in an unfamiliar city, all I literally need to do is tap my smartphone screen a few times. That's the difference - hours of work reduced to seconds.
I'm making due with maps.google.com at the moment. It's not so much that I'm upset that Apple removed Google Maps, it's that Apple is just leaving transit users behind. They're not trying to foster the creation of independent apps - that's absurd. If that was their goal, they wouldn't release a map app at all. They either viewed transit as too big a challenge or not important. And that's what really disappoints me.