Google to roll out sustainable travel features for Maps and Search

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Google, in a blog post, said it has unveiled updates to its Maps and Search features, aiming to provide users with convenient access to public transit, walking routes, and information on estimated flight emissions in a bid to promote sustainable travel.

The new features, set to roll out in the coming weeks, are said to offer alternative travel options alongside driving routes in Maps, particularly in over fifteen major cities globally, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, Montreal, Paris, Rome, and Sydney.

Furthermore, Google is expanding its Search functionality to include long-distance train and bus routes, enabling users to easily find schedules and ticket prices directly within search results. This feature now encompasses trains in 38 countries and long-distance bus routes in 15 countries.

Train feature will come to: Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States.

Bus feature will come to: Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States.

To aid users in making informed decisions about air travel, Google is also enhancing its flight search capabilities. Last year, the tech giant began incorporating train route suggestions alongside flight options in Search. Soon, these train route suggestions will also be available on Google Flights, facilitating the discovery of more sustainable travel alternatives.

Moreover, Google Flights already provides estimated emissions for nearly every flight in its search results, allowing users to filter by lower-emitting options. These estimates are generated through the Travel Impact Model (TIM), a methodology introduced by Google in 2022. To enhance accessibility, TIM estimates are now accessible via a developer API, a Google Sheets add-on, and a calculator on the TIM website.

While acknowledging that sustainable travel remains a journey, Google hopes that these updates will empower more individuals to make environmentally conscious travel decisions, contributing to a reduction in carbon emissions.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow