An important convenience for tourists in Europe. Traveling will be easier

Google is rolling out new map features to more European cities. These include Copenhagen and Stockholm, as well as Warsaw. The most important element of the update is the AI's ability to predict when it's better to walk than drive. This will be useful not only for residents, but also for tourists, who will save money on taxis. "This feature has helped people avoid tens of millions of car trips," we read on the Google Blog.

Walking is better than driving

“Last year, we introduced a feature that uses AI to predict when you’ll get to your destination on foot or by public transport in about the same time as you would by car,” says Yael Maguire, vice president and general manager of Google Maps and Google Earth. This convenience will now be rolled out in dozens more cities, including Warsaw. How will it look in practice?

If we want to travel from one point to another by taxi, for example, the system will notify us that there are better alternatives – for example, walking or taking a tram a few stops. This is especially useful in the centers of large cities, where ordering a ride and then driving through noisy streets in traffic jams can take us longer than a half-hour walk.

Easier travel by bike

That's not all, because as part of the update, Google will also make it easier to travel by bike. The app will now display details such as choosing the right lane, the intensity of car traffic on the selected route for two-wheelers or the presence of steep hills. "We are expanding this experience to 17 new cities, including 9 in Europe, covering 125,000 kilometers of bike paths worldwide," we read in the announcement.