If you are trying to find out how to reach to your job interview location or dinner with friends, you can now discover for what route might be the fastest and most suitable. Google has now added a new feature to the Google Maps to view the estimated time of your journey using real-time traffic data.
This new feature provides estimated travel time based on current traffic conditions. So, if you are moving to the town to visit any electronics store you will be able to observe how long various routes might take having no or very less traffic, as well as how long the exploration might be based on the traffic conditions right now.
Depending on where you stay, the shortest route may take the longest time to reach the destination depending on the time of day your exploration starts. Traffic data is continually refreshed where available, providing the most updated information.
Google earlier offered traffic data but this is the first time data has been accessible as part of directions.
“The previous traffic feature that was removed from Google Maps last summer provided users with the worst-case traffic scenario based on historic traffic data — e.g. ‘up to 50 minutes in traffic.’” a Google spokesperson said.
“That feature was removed because we wanted to improve the freshness of the data. The feature that we are introducing on Google Maps today works differently and serves a different purpose. The new time-in-traffic feature provides users with the ability to check current traffic conditions and estimates the length of travel time based on constantly refreshed data.”
Data is accumulated through third-party services and via data from Android users who have opted in to the My Location feature on Google Maps. Google would be able to tell, for instance, if there were several Android owners moving slowly on the freeway and determine that there was traffic slowing them down. The more people opting into the service in the area, the better the traffic information available will be.
If you desire to assist provide data for the service and also assist your driver in the process, you can do so by turning on the My Location feature for Google Maps on your Android phone.
