I'm sorry if I missed the point of the article, or if it seems like it when I say this comment, but I hate it when people say that lacking a feature is a feature; it just seems like a lame excuse.
I think he's saying that the route Apple chose is more appropriate in this case given the hybrid nature of ownership of all the various transit systems. And he's just providing (good) examples of why having a centralized system like Google's can and has been problematic.
Aggregating data is difficult. Of course it is. But to say "oh well, not worth the effort" and leave your users to download a new app (not before deciding which one is best) and deal with a new UI for every city they visit is just insane.
He provides one example - Vienna. Where I live the transport companies are privatised but realise that by providing the data to Google they get more people using their services.
When Apple releases ios 6 they will have to create a new app just because Apple doesn't want to be compatible with the existing feeds that these companies are already providing.