Google is adding a slew of new features to Google Maps in India as it seeks to attract more users by customizing its service to serve the country’s unique needs and serve more use cases.
Notably, Maps is getting an AI model that helps drivers better navigate flyovers (overpasses) and narrow roads in India. The company is also partnering with a government-backed initiative to let commuters book local train and metro tickets from within the Maps app. The app is even getting a feature that will surface curated lists of popular places one can visit in certain cities.
Navigation features
On Thursday, Google said it has built an AI model specifically for Indian roads that estimates road width using satellite imagery and Street View data. The model also considers information such as the type of road, distance between buildings, tree cover, poles and drains to help drivers avoid narrow roads.
Maps will now show car, bike, and pedestrians routes that avoid narrow roads during navigation. When such roads are unavoidable, Maps will display callouts to warn users about narrow sections ahead.
The company said this feature will come to Android devices in eight cities first, and will be rolled out to iOS devices soon.
Google Maps has also integrated flyover callouts during navigation so you can see upcoming flyovers along their route.
Until this update, Maps would instruct drivers to “take a ramp” while getting on or off flyovers, but the term “ramp” is not commonly used in India in this context. Also, the app would frequently refer to roads by their official names during navigation, but these are often not prominently displayed on roads, so drivers frequently have to guess which road they are on. A clear instruction like, “take the flyover” is a better prompt in such cases.
Flyover callouts will be rolled out in 40 cities across India and will first come to Android devices and Android Auto. The feature will also be available on Apple’s CarPlay soon, Google said.
Maps will now also show information about EV charging stations in the country — more than five years after the feature was rolled out in the U.S. Google said it has partnered with EV charging providers and aggregators such as ElectricPe, Ather Energy, Kazam and Statiq to show information about more than 8,000 charging stations on Google Maps.
Users will also see information such as the plug types supported at the available stations when they search for charging stations on the app.
Notably, this will be the first time that Google Maps will show results for two-wheeler EV charging stations — elsewhere in the world, Maps only shows charging stations for cars.
Public transport
Google has also partnered with India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government-backed open source network for infrastructure, and Namma Yatri, a Google-backed ride-hailing app, to let users book tickets for local trains and metros, and hail auto rickshaws in Indian cities from within Google Maps.
This week, the company is rolling out support for booking metro tickets in Kochi and Chennai from within Google Maps. Users will get their tickets as a QR code after they pay for it. Google said it would bring this feature to more cities and support additional modes of transport eventually.
Google Maps used to display Uber and Ola Cabs prices when users typed in a destination, but the feature was eventually discontinued. The company said that the partnership with Namma Yatri and ONDC is a deeper integration and these booking features are here to stay.
Earlier this year, Google Maps started displaying curated lists of recommended places to visit in select cities in the U.S. and Canada. The company is now bringing this feature to India in partnership with Magicpin and NDTV Food. Starting this week, Indians will be able to see recommended places to visit in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Jaipur.
Google Maps will surface these lists when users search for terms like “Best ocean-view cafes in Goa” or “Top breakfast places in Mumbai.”
The company said that it has also updated the Maps interface to make it easier to report crashes, slowdowns, construction, lane closures, stalled vehicles, and objects on the road via tappable icons.
