Starting today, drivers and commuters in India can see traffic information for 12 new cities in India — Kolkata, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Indore, Ludhiana, Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Kochi, Madurai, Bhopal — right on Google Maps.
This traffic feature, available on both mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps, gives you a way to see real time traffic conditions across a total of 34 cities in India.
This latest update to Google Maps makes traffic information available for all national highways and expressways in India. Once the Traffic layer is turned on in Google Maps, commuters can see routes mapped out in different colors, indicating the different speed of traffic on those roads. Green means there are no traffic delays on the road, orange indicates a medium amount of traffic and red means heavier traffic congestion.
Being able to see what local traffic is typically like at any given day and time can help making planning a drive easier than ever on Google Maps.
While in Navigation mode, Google Maps will also use real time traffic information to more accurately estimate your time of arrival and to provide options for alternate routes if there are faster options available.
"We're constantly working on making Google Maps a more comprehensive, daily tool for Indians, and we hope that this new real-time traffic information for 12 cities and all national highways will help drivers across the country find the best routes to their destinations with the fewest delays," said Suren Ruhela, Director, Program Management, Google.
Today's launch of traffic information in 12 new cities and all national highways is Google's latest effort in series of initiatives to make Google Maps more useful to mobile Internet users in India.
Earlier this year, Google launched voice-guided Navigation instructions in the Hindi and Indian accented English language on Google Maps for mobile, as well as the integration of Indian Railways schedule information within Google Transit.
