Google maps ‘500% greener’ in 12 months

Google’s map service is 500% greener than it was 12 months ago, according to the Internet giant’s blog.

Green improvements include detailed and accurate walking directions (users are no longer directed to swim across rivers) and a 250-500% increase in the number of cities where Google Maps can be used to plan public transport journeys.

“A year ago, we had ‘walking directions’ that simply consisted of an as-the-crow-flies arrow across buildings - and sometimes rivers!” writes Jessica Wei on Google’s official blog.

“Today, people are no longer directed to swim across rivers or fly over impassible areas - detailed turn-by-turn walking directions have now been seamlessly integrated with our transit directions.”

Public transport integration has also seen huge improvements.

In North America, Google Maps now integrates 115 public transport agencies into its journey search, compared to just 20 a year ago.

Public transport agencies in South America and Europe have also signed up, covering major cities including Moscow, Lisbon, and Sao Paulo.

In addition, a new feature called transit layer, available in 60 cities, allows users to easily discover new public transport routes.