Google proclaims recent travel features

Google has announced several recent features for Google Maps and Google Search designed to assist people find less carbon-intensive ways to travel and commute.

One of the important thing innovations is a brand new EV filter on google.com/travel that enables users to search out hotels that provide on-site electric vehicle charging options. In addition, quite a few updates have been made to Maps to make finding charging stations easier.

When planning a visit, users now have access to suggested charging stops, predicted energy consumption and more.

In addition to the EV updates, Google Maps now also helps users find lower-carbon travel alternatives.

Highlights from Google’s press release: More Sustainable Ways to Commute and Travel:

• Alternative directions in Google Maps: When users seek for directions, we’ll soon display a suggested public transit or walking route alongside routes, provided travel times are comparable and practical (in 15+ cities).
• Trains and buses in Google search: You can now see train schedules and ticket prices directly in search, for rail travel in 38 countries worldwide (including the US) and for long-distance buses in 15 countries. This is an extension of an existing feature.
• Train suggestions on Google Flights: If you are on Google Flights in the approaching months and there is an affordable rail alternative, you will see suggested train routes in flight search results. This builds on similar suggestions we already show in Google Search for flight queries.
• Travel Impact Model: You can already see the estimated emissions in Google Flights, based on our Travel Impact Model methodology. Estimates from the Travel Impact Model at the moment are also available via a Developer APIA Google Sheets extension and a Calculator on the TIM website.

Electric vehicles:

• Google Maps (all functions coming soon):
• Electric vehicle charging station pins: We mark nearby electric vehicle charging stations on in-car maps and supply details about charging station availability and charging speed.
• AI-Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Station Summaries: AI summaries from user reviews will help users higher locate charging stations.
• Planning an EV trip with multiple waypoints: When users create a visit with multiple stops, the in-car maps suggest the obligatory charging stops.
• Google Search – Hotels:
• You can use the brand new EV filter google.com/travel to search out hotels that provide on-site electric vehicle charging. This is already live.