Did you know that most people spend more than an hour traveling to and from work each day, which adds up to the equivalent of a two-week vacation? While that time spent traveling sadly won’t earn you any actual time off, a new Google Maps commute feature aims to make your journey a whole lot easier.
The Google Maps commute tab gives one-tap access to live traffic and mass transit information, including when to leave, train departure times, how long your walk from the station to the office will be, whether there will be traffic on your drive, if you should give yourself extra time because of an accident, construction or heavy traffic and more.
“In the case of a delay, we’ll tell you about alternative routes to help you get to work faster,” Ramesh Nagarajan, group product manager for Google Maps, wrote in a blog post Monday. “On Android, you’ll also receive notifications about delays and disruptions on your route as they happen, so you can know about an incident before you get caught up in the delay.”
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Google Maps commute in real-time
The Google Maps commute feature will show real-time bus and train locations in 80 regions across the globe. Users in Sydney, via a partnership with its transit authority, will even be able to see how full the next bus or train is.
“This feature will be coming to more cities around the globe soon,” Nagarajan wrote.
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Singalong with Google Maps commute
For those who travel the highways and byways of the world, getting stuck in traffic at some point is inevitable.
The new Google Maps commute feature wants you to at least be in said gridlock with more than a few good tunes, so Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play Music will be available right in Google Maps. That means you can control your music and podcasts while you’re navigating in Google Maps.
“With Spotify on Android, you can also choose your favorite content by browsing through songs, albums, podcasts and playlists with the new, easy-to-use navigation,” Nagarajan wrote. “Say goodbye to toggling between apps, and rock out knowing that you can keep your eyes where they should be — on the road.”
The Google Maps commute tab rolls out globally this week for Android and iOS. To start using it, update your app in the Play Story or App Store and visit support.google.com for info.
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