Technology giant Google has rolled out a new feature in Google Maps that shows live traffic delays for public transits and also how crowded they will be. Google has made the announcement on its blog that the new feature will help its users to get information if a bus or a train will be delayed, and exactly how late it will be. Based on live traffic conditions, Google Maps will predict the accurate travel time on the route the user is taking. Both these features of Google Maps are expected to make the lives of users better.
As we all know, hundreds of millions of people in India prefer using public transit like buses and trains on a daily basis as they are more affordable than going by their own vehicle. So, this traffic prediction feature will be helpful for the people to get accurate information how long they would have to wait for the bus, train or metro at the stop, in case it will be late. Google has rolled out this new traffic forecasting feature in almost 200 cities all over the world. Apart from this, Google Map will also show how crowded the bus, metro or train is. This will help the user to take a prompt decision whether they should board the bus or train or metro or wait for the one that has vacant seats for comfortable traveling.
On the launch of the new feature, the company said,” Today, Google Maps introduced live traffic delays for buses, forecasting bus delays in hundreds of cities worldwide, ranging from Atlanta to Zagreb to Istanbul to Manila and more. This improves the accuracy of transit timing for over sixty million people. This system, first launched in India three weeks ago, is driven by a machine learning model that combines real-time car traffic forecasts with data on bus routes and stops to better predict how long a bus trip will take.”
With the number of commuters and traffic going up by the day, this new feature will prove to be helpful for millions of people who take bus, train or metros.
One thing Google Maps does not feature is bus schedule. On this Google stated, “So far, in experiments with official agency bus schedules, they haven’t improved our forecasts significantly. In some cities, severe traffic fluctuations might overwhelm attempts to plan a schedule. In others, the bus schedules might be precise, but perhaps because transit agencies carefully account for traffic patterns. And we infer those from the data.”
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