Google Maps turns 15: Mix mode commute option to be expanded across Indian cities

Google Maps turned 15 and made a whole host of announcements to commemorate the day. For starters, the company announced that they were looking to expand the mixed mode commute option to cities across India.

Google Maps turned 15 and made a whole host of announcements to commemorate the day. For starters, the company announced that they were looking to expand the mixed mode commute option to cities across India. (Google)

Google Maps turned 15 and made a whole host of announcements to commemorate the day. For starters, the company announced that they were looking to expand the mixed mode commute option to cities across India.

In case you did not know, the mix mode commute option shows you a combination of public transport available through your route to a particular destination. It will show you a combination of public buses, cabs, autos and even metros.

"The public transport tab on Google Maps for Android now informs users about a journey that combines auto-rickshaw and public transport. It indicates how much time it will take, and which station they should take an auto-rickshaw to/from. The feature is available for Delhi and Bangalore and we're looking to bring it to other cities across India," Google Maps vice president Jen Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

Fitzapatrick also listed 14 features that Google has incorporated in Google Maps out of which eight were first started in India and six of them were inspired from India and were implemented in other foreign markets.

The six features that were inspired by India include information about public toilets inspired by our Swachh Bharat Mission, digital addresses called 'Plus codes' for location sharing and the mixed mode commute.

"Google Maps now lists over 57,000 public toilets in 2,300+ cities across India. The initiative was launched in 2016 as a pilot in three cities -- New Delhi, Bhopal, and Indore -- in collaboration with the Swachh Bharat Mission and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs," Fitzpatrick said.