Google Maps live traffic data available in 12 new Indian cities

Being able to see a traffic jam on the road ahead from a few kilometres away can save you hours. Everyone who uses live traffic data on Google Maps can vouch for that. Today, that feature is coming to 12 more Indian cities, acccording to a Google statement.

Being able to see a traffic jam on the road ahead from a few kilometres away can save you hours. Everyone who uses live traffic data on Google Maps can vouch for that. Today, that feature is coming to 12 more Indian cities, acccording to a Google statement.

The new cities are:

Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhpal, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Surat, Indore, Ludhiana, Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Kochi, and Madurai.

This latest update to Google Maps also makes traffic information available for all national highways and expressways in India, Google's statement said.

'We are constantly working on making Google Maps a more comprehensive, daily tool for Indians and we hope that this new real-time traffic information for 12 cities and all national highways will help drivers across the country find the best routes to their destinations with the fewest delays,' Suren Ruhela, director, program management at Google said.

This traffic feature, is available on both mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps. It helps a person to see real-time traffic conditions across a total of 34 cities in India.

Once the traffic layer is turned on in Google Maps, commuters can see routes mapped out in different colours, indicating the different speed of traffic on those roads.

'Green means there are no traffic delays on the road, orange indicates a medium amount of traffic and red means heavier traffic congestion,' the statement said.

While in navigation mode, Google Maps will also use real time traffic information to more accurately estimate time of arrival and to provide options for alternate routes if there are faster options available.