Here’s How I Use Google Maps to Avoid Traffic Jams When Traveling by Road

There are many different map applications available today, but Google Maps continues to be the go-to app for manyThere are many reasons, especially if we take into account the large number of options available on the platform: offline maps, saving where you parked, graphs of peak hours in establishments…

Although we can use Google Maps to get directions by public transport, on foot or even by bike, One of the most common uses is in the car. It is important to keep in mind that Google Maps already takes into account the route with the least traffic to our destination, but there are several functions that are worth knowing to plan our routes and avoid traffic jams.

Google Maps has several features to get an idea of ​​traffic conditions

One of the most useful features offered by Google Maps is the ability to plan a trip in advance

. This is something we can do in a simple way before starting navigation and that will allow us to have an idea of ​​the time it would take us to reach our destination depending on the time we leave. To do this, the application is based on traffic estimates.

Once we have entered the origin and destination to which we are going and we see the route on the screen, we will have to press the icon with the three dots that appears in the upper right corner, where we will find the option ‘Set departure or arrival time’.

The application will then allow us to select the time we want to leave or the time we want to arrive at our destination. As soon as you have completed the previous steps, we will see that Google Maps recalculate the estimated time it would take to arrive to our destination, which can help us find out the most convenient departure time.

In addition to the above, another option worth knowing is the graph with traffic estimation for the next few hours. We can see this by indicating our point of origin and destination if we click on the “Stages” option that appears at the bottom of the interface (or by sliding the menu upwards). This graph is useful to visually compare the current traffic with that estimated for the next few hours.

Another option that is worth using and can sometimes go unnoticed is the traffic layer. We can activate this option easily by clicking on the layers icon that appears in the upper right part of the map and choosing the “Traffic” option that we will find in the “Map details” section.

By doing this, we will see that the application uses a color code to indicate the speed of movement on the road. Red means there are traffic delays.

(the darker the red, the slower the traffic), while orange indicates medium traffic density. As you may have guessed, green means no detention.

As we have already mentioned, Google Maps always takes into account the availability of a faster route. In fact, even if we have already selected a route The app will alert us if it detects a faster routetelling us how much time we would save if we decided to follow him.

What Google Maps doesn’t currently take into account is that the journey might take less time if we leave the house later, which can happen if we avoid rush hour delays. For this reason, it is necessary to perform these requests manually with the function of defining a departure or arrival time that we have already mentioned.

Despite the above, we know that the company is working on a feature that I would recommend the best time to leave for our destination depending on how long it would take us to complete the trip by leaving at different times. In fact, the company has filed a patent that details how this feature works.

By | The Free Android

Cover Image | Microsoft Designer Image Creator

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