Google Maps launches support for two-wheel vehicles, starting with India
Google Maps will support two-wheel vehicle navigation, offering directions to better suit scooters and motorcycles.
It's starting first with India, before expanding the feature to other countries, Google announced in an event Tuesday in Delhi.
And it makes sense: India is the world's biggest two-wheeler market, where motorbikes still outsell cars by seven to one.
Martha Welsh, Google Maps' strategic partner development manager, said, of the decision to start in India: "It's important that we get this right."
She explained that the two-wheeler feature will see Google Maps recommending alternative routes that it won't for cars, such as some alleyways that are permissible to bikes.
In India, some highways don't allow motorcycles on them either, so the new navigation routes will avoid those roads.
Bikers will also get more accurate timing to match their speeds, since often they can weave through jams where cars are stuck.
Two-wheel navigation has been a much-requested feature for other mapping apps like Waze (also owned by Google) for years. Here's hoping Google will expand the feature to other markets soon.
Topics Google
Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
