Handy: Google Maps now combines cycling and public transport routes

Google Maps has a new feature that almost seems to be made for a cycling country like the Netherlands. From now on, the app combines routes with cycling, walking and public transport. That makes it easier to navigate from door to door.

Google Maps cycling and public transport routes now combined

Navigating from your front door to your training or workplace has been possible with Google Maps for years, but until today bicycle routes were not included in route descriptions that contain multiple vehicles. Handy, because Maps often now gives you a walking description that you don’t use anyway because you take the bike.

Google Maps bicycle and public transport

Starting today, that will change with a small, but very useful update to Google’s popular navigation app. From now on, bicycle routes and car sharing apps will be included in compiling the best route for you.

From now on, if you navigate from A to B, Google can, for example, first show a bicycle route to the station, then show you which train to take to finally give you the walking route to your workplace. The function works as follows.

This is how the new Google Maps route description works

  1. Open Google Maps and enter a place to navigate to;
  2. Press the train icon for public transport;
  3. You will now see a route description that also includes bike and car sharing options. If, according to Maps, the station is even too far for cycling, the app can, for example, recommend ordering an Uber, provided that the service is active in that area.

Google Maps uses colored stripes to distinguish between the different modes of transport and phases of your journey. This makes it easy to see, for example, what time you arrive at the station and how long you have to wait for the train to leave.

As always, Google is rolling out this update gradually starting today. So it may happen that you can get started with it today, but if the option doesn’t appear in your app yet, you have no choice but to wait. It is the umpteenth small improvement that Google has recently made to Maps. For example, the app recently also predicts how busy it is on your train, bus or metro.

Also read: Google Maps Live View: never get lost again thanks to augmented reality

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