Riding a two-wheeler? Trust your phone

CHANDIGARH: If you ride a motorcycle or a two-wheeler in Chandigarh, Google Maps may suggest a shortcut if you use it the next time around. That’s not all. It may even let you know if it is okay to cross the perpetually busy Labour Chowk during rush hour.
To tell Chandigarh about this and other new features that Google Maps has on offer, its program manager for India, Anal Ghosh, was at a five-star hotel in Phase I of Industrial Area on Thursday. In an interaction with TOI, Anal said the feature for two-wheelers had been added in December.

“In India, 70% commuters use two-wheelers. Many people have started using it, so we thought of reaching out to people and telling them about the shortcuts that we can suggest,” he said.

The feature for two-wheelers, Anal claimed, is not just limited to regular roads. “It will also have shortcuts that can only be used by two-wheelers,” he said. “That is why the option is exclusive.”

Asked if the two-wheeler option could be problematic in identifying shortcuts as there are bicycle tracks in Chandigarh, Anal said that was not the case. “These shortcuts have been identified after carrying out several checks,” he added.

As he listed how the internet giant was adapting to India, Anal spoke about the introduction of real-time traffic updates. “Now when you input a destination, the app will give you a voice alert on traffic conditions en route,” he said.

A third feature that Ghosh mentioned was ‘Plus Codes’. In a way, it is the internet giant’s way of assigning post codes to all areas in a city, villages, and even areas bereft of any kind of civilization. Basically, the next time you are a location whose address cannot be defined by Google, you can drop a pin there and Google would automatically generate a plus code. “A plus code each has been defined for an area of 13 metres by 13 metres,” Ghosh said.

The plus code for an area can be seen in the overview section of the app, right under the actual address. It comprises a ‘six-character plus city’ format.

But what if your smartphone is not powerful enough for Google Maps?

Ghosh said there was an answer for that too. “Google Maps Go is a lightweight, Chrome-based app which can be accessed using any Android device,” he said.

In short, Go is Google Maps’ version of Mobile Facebook.