Google adds side streets to Maps traffic feature

Google Apps mobile users contribute data from their handsets via GPS

Google is expanding the road traffic features of its Maps service, adding monitoring for arterial roads to allow users to gauge traffic on side streets and alternative routes. The system had previously been limited to highways.

The company hopes that the extra detail will allow users to better plan their routes when traffic is congested on highways.

"Commuters have long relied on traffic sites to help them determine their last-minute path around poor traffic on the highway," Google engineer Jordan Weitz wrote in a blog post.

"But if the traffic looks bad on the highways, you'll probably want to know how it looks on the alternative routes through arterials."

As with the highway function, the arterial road traffic mapping will use a 'crowd sourcing' approach to gather data.

Users who run the mobile version of Google Apps contribute data from their handsets via GPS. The system logs the user's speed and location, then compiles the information with data from other users to gauge the speed of traffic.

Google said that it hopes to expand the programme as users move to more powerful smartphones and handsets.

"As GPS-enabled phones and data plans get less expensive, more people will be able to participate," said Google product manager Dave Barth in a blog post.

"Crowd sourcing traffic gives us a way to harness bits of location data from our users and give it back to them in a form they can use to make decisions that affect their free time, their [wallets] and the environment."