Google Maps, well-known among drivers as one of the most helpful navigation app, will provide drivers with even more comfort soon thanks to the real-time incident alerts. This feature which is borrowed from the Waze app will help enhance the general driving experience since the driver will always receive alerts of an accident, road closure or any other hindrance.
Google Maps Enhances Travel with Real-Time Incident Alerts
After Google bought Waze in 2013 for $1.3bn, Google has incorporated many of Waze’s community functions into Google Maps. Scarcity of real-time traffic data from users has transformed the alerts on incidents on the roads to be faster and more accurate.
The real-time incident alerts will let drivers know of incidents on the route and which could have caused them delays or even pose a threat to safety. It might be collisions, work zones, closed roads or even special conditions such as flood or snowstorm.
Besides the roads, Google Maps give suggestions of other routes that it gives when it notices an incident and offer an option for people to switch by one click and still reach their destinations as soon as possible.
This is a great feature that helps to bring Google Maps back in the competition with other Nav tools. The constant updates means that through recent conditions on the roads users will experience high accurate and fast responsiveness as compared to previous conditions.
Google Maps Introduces Police Presence Alerts
Features from the acquired consumer navigation application, Waze, have been incorporated into Google Maps for years. There has been a new one that informs drivers of the police patrol near them, making the application even more helpful in the real-time traffic update.
Police presence alert is also like other incidents notification available in Google map. An alert will appear when a driver gets to a site, where he may find police presence, and this will create a window, to enable him respond to the alert or ignore it.
The driver can order an alert responding to whether the police are still stationed at the scene. But in case they are aware that the police are still there, they can choose on the option “Yes.” However, if the situation to the contrary has improved they can select on “No” thus contribute to updating the map with the correct information.
At the same time, to avoid stunning the user with a large number of tags and at the same time adding unnecessary information to the map, there is an “X” button next to the alert. This feature prevents them from detaching from the road or thinking about notifications that are irrelevant or old thus making the drivers to concentrate on their trip.
This crowd-reporting feature in Waze is integrated into Google Maps; hence providing an extra layer of real-time reporting. It also promotes the engagement of users, by making it easier for drivers to share and to verify information that might be relevant to the driving experience and travel risk.
Google Maps Rolls Out Limited Police Presence Alerts
The new police presence alert in the google maps is in preliminary stage at the moment and it is only available to a few select users right now. Although not yet well appreciated, it comes as a major advancement as regards enhancing real-time navigation within the app.
Since Google bought Waze more than ten years ago, both the apps have not been integrated but remained relevant to users with different preferences. There is a big difference between Google Maps as a service for general navigation and Waze, which is more oriented on real-time traffic and road condition information.
Although, a recent addition of real-time incident report from Waze on Google Maps means that users are beginning to notice the two products have similarities. This blend extends the knowledge of Waze community to other Google Maps users, an advantage Waze has over similar apps.
This closer alignment allows [Google Maps to provide more accurate and timely information which makes] Google Maps better for navigation. Our source provides one example of how this integration will work toward implementing safer and better informed driving choices: The police presence alerts.
Though limited to a few months of testing, the feature is anticipated to rollout more in the future. The more users text with the software and receive the alerts, Google Maps will improve the feature and become ever more useful for travelers.
