I usually move about big cities on mass transit systems. I tend to get around better with an app like Google Maps in my pocket.
I was disappointed to see such functionality missing from Windows Phone 7.x. Is it in Windows Phone 8?
Note: I'm mostly interested in New York City and Tokyo.
It wasn't part of 7.x nor it is part of 8.x. I wouldn't see it as part of the phone operating system at all. IMHO it doesn't belong there. Modern phones get their power mostly out of the overwhelming number of applications available.
Nokia is indeed hard working to separate their phones from other Windows Phones, so there is an app called Nokia Transit/Transport available to provide information about public transportation. Also, they do provide some basic information using their map solution on here.net.
Some local public transport services offer their own app, so you could do a search in the store.
GMaps Pro wraps Google web maps into an application and works well. It has transit information and there is a trial and ad-supported version available.
I am using the HTC 8X in Japan right now and the Maps application is almost completely useless. You get a high-level map view with the highways, but you cannot zoom in to see any streets let alone transit information (see this example) . You also cannot search for places such as Shinjuku (searching in Japanese doesn't work either). The problem seems to be that there is no downloadable map information for Japan, but there is for many other places such as Singapore and New York City (shows train and bus stations/stops but not much else).
