Google Maps has always been an extremely reliable tool to get you where you’re going. All you have to do is put in your mode of transportation and Google gives you a pretty accurate and descriptive route that also includes live traffic, alternate routes, and estimated times of arrival.
Pretty much all you could ask for right?
Well now Google is going above and beyond by adding a multimodal option for you to get where you’re going in the most efficient and feasible way possible. Via The Verge, Google Maps will now allow you to use multiple modes of transportation, including ride sharing options, to get you where you’re going.
For example, let’s say you’re headed somewhere in New York with your bike but you want to make to your trip a little speedier by taking the subway for a little bit. Google Maps can optimize that for you. Let’s say you’re riding the subway all day and want to get somewhere even faster by using a ride share application. Google Maps can pull up the Uber or Lyft fares and get you set up for however far you want to ride. Google Maps also has a new feature that will tell you how crowded a train or bus is at the time you’re about to get on so that might make your decision to skip public transit easier.
In the world of ever changing transportation, there are now multiple ways to get where you’re going and there will be even more in the future. From electric scooters, to ride sharing, to reinventing buses, tech companies are always looking for new ways to get you somewhere. All Google Maps is doing is shepherding a way for you to combine them all.
