Key Highlights
- Users of Google Maps can compare the CO2 emission on different roads.
- Australian users can see the air quality of their route.
- Maps app users will now be able to compare the various transportation like a car, walking, public transportation, and other modes of transportation in one location.
US: The first to implement ‘eco-friendly’ routes
Google maps always helped you in searching for the best route to reach the destination. The Google map feature is not ending here; they have taken one more step for the betterment of the population. The Google Maps app will begin guiding drivers to routes that are expected to emit the least amount of carbon emissions based on traffic, cliffs, and other factors. Google, an Alphabet Inc. subsidiary, said the feature will go live later this year in the United States and then expand to other countries as part of its effort to fight climate change through its services.
Until the driver will opt-out, by default the route will be an “eco-friendly” path. If equivalent alternatives require exactly the same amount of time, according to Google. When alternatives are slightly faster, Google can present options and encourage drivers to compare expected emissions.
Related: Google’s Gradual shift towards the Go-Green Initiative
US government testing the transportation
Google reported that it generates relative pollution figures by evaluating multiple types of vehicles and road types, building on observations from the US government’s National Clean Energy Lab (NREL). Road grade data were derived from Street View vehicles as well as airborne and satellite imagery.
Google’s additional announcement
The new Air quality layer feature will soon come out in the coming months in Australia, India, and the US. This will allow the travellers to have information about the air quality which can help them so that they can take precautions if they are having allergies.
In countries like Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom starting from June 2021, it will start giving warning to drivers to follow the low emission route. Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Also Read: Summer will last half a year! Other alarming effects of Climate Change
