With new updates in Maps, we’re making it easier than ever to make sustainable transportation choices across Europe, whether you’re planning a summer road trip, commuting to school or work, or running errands.
Find driving alternatives
Last year we introduced a feature that uses AI to predict when walking or taking transit will get you to your destination in roughly the same amount of time as driving, and show you recommended walking or transit routes. Since then, this feature has helped people avoid tens of millions of car trips. It’s currently available in over 60 cities, and in the coming months, we’ll launch in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Warsaw, and more.
See helpful details about your cycling route
We’ll show you helpful information about your route in even more places if you plan to cycle this summer. You will now be able to quickly see lanes on your cycling route as well as familiar details like heavy car traffic or steep hills in cities like Hamburg, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Zurich, Budapest, Vienna, and Brussels thanks to partnerships with local governments and data from public authorities. In order to let you know when you will have a dedicated lane, we are expanding this experience to 17 new cities, 9 of which are in Europe. These cities will cover 125,000 kilometers of bike lanes worldwide.
Save on petrol and reduce emissions
If driving is the best option for your trip, Maps can help you find the fastest route to your destination that uses the least amount of energy or fuel. With 500 million trips using fuel-efficient routing each month, we estimate that 500 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions will be avoided in 2024 alone thanks to fuel-efficient routing. That’s the equivalent of taking more than 630,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road for a year.
Know when you’ll be travelling in low emission zones
Many European cities have designated low-emission and low-traffic zones to decrease air pollution and traffic. Today in places like London and Berlin, we show helpful alerts that let you check if your vehicle is allowed in these zones, and choose an alternate route if needed. In the coming months, we’re expanding this feature to over 1,000 low-emission and low-traffic zones across Europe, including Italy, Sweden, Austria and more.
Helping cities reduce congestion and emissions
Beyond helping people make more sustainable choices with Maps, we’re also helping cities reduce overall carbon emissions. Project Green Light uses AI and Maps driving trends to model traffic patterns and recommend how cities can optimize their existing traffic light plans. Vilnius, Lithuania is among the cities where we’ve recently expanded Green Light, making it now available in 20 total cities across 4 continents, helping drivers sail through more green lights.
With more ways to get around in Europe, you can choose the option that works best for you. See how Maps, Search, Gemini, and Lens can help you plan your summer travel by checking out these updates.