By Abhimanyu Ghoshal
Abhimanyu Ghoshal is a writer at The Next Web.
If youre on a bicycle or motorcycle, its easier to maneuver through traffic than with a car and now, Google Maps has finally caught on to the idea. The service now displays routes specifically tailored for two-wheelers when you look up destinations around you.
The new feature appears to be rolling out initially in India, and I got a chance to check it out here. You can access it by searching for a destination, and then tapping the motorcycle icon in the row of transport mode options.
The routes are generally faster (if not shorter), as they take into account shortcuts that are more easily accessible by two-wheeler, or offer directions that are quicker to navigate than when in youre in a larger vehicle. Trips within town around 11AM were shorter by several minutes, while those that led you out of the city took significantly less time (Maps estimated that a 256KM trip would be roughly 40 minutes shorter on a bike than in a car).
Youll need the latest version of Google Maps on Android v.9.67.1 to be precise to try two-wheeler mode. Hopefully, itll roll out to other countries that face traffic congestion and support large numbers of motorbikes. Google is slated to announce a few updates to its Google for India initiative today, so well soon learn if this feature is designed only for the country.
This article has been previously published on The Next Web.
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