Google Maps now also includes details on COVID-19 checkpoints and restrictions on crossing national borders. (Express Photo: Karanveer Singh Arora)
Google has announced that it has added new features to its Maps service, which will alert users about COVID-19 related travel restrictions. This will help users plan their trips, according to the company. These new features include transit alerts, medical facility alerts and more.
To get these new features, users need to update their Google Maps app from the Play Store. To do this, they can head over to the Google Play Store, search for Maps and tap on update within the app page.
The transit alerts feature will allow users to check how crowded a train station might be at a particular time or if buses are running on a limited schedule. This feature has been made available in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States.
Google Maps now also includes details on COVID-19 checkpoints and restrictions on crossing national borders. This feature is only available in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
If a user is driving to a medical facility or a COVID-19 testing centre, then the app will verify their eligibility and state the facility guidelines. medical facility alerts are now available in Indonesia, Israel, the Philippines, South Korea and the United States. Whereas, the testing centre alerts are only being made available in the US as of now.
Google claims to be collecting all of this data from local, state and federal governments. They also state that they are actively working with other agencies around the world to add more value to these features, while at the same time making them available in more countries.
Other features introduced to battle COVID-19
The company’s crowdedness predictions feature that was introduced last year will now allow users to input information about their transit by going into the Transit Details on the app and tapping on crowdedness predictions.
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Back in February, the company added insights like temperature, accessibility, security onboard and designated women’s section for transit systems, inside their app. These insights are being populated by riders who submit their experiences on the app for other users to know.