Google Maps Can Now Predict How Crowded Your Bus Or Trail Will Be
The latter is perhaps the more interesting of the two, as it represents a new prediction technique Google has been perfecting for over half a year. Starting in October, the company began to ask Google Maps users to rate their journey if they had traveled during peak commuting hours of 6 am to 10 am. Google asked about how many seats were available or if it was standing room only, in order to identify which lines had the highest number of crowdedness reports. Over time, it was able to model this data into a new prediction capability designed to tell transit riders how packed their bus or train would be. It also used this data to create rankings of the most crowded routes and stops around the world.
The latter is perhaps the more interesting of the two, as it represents a new prediction technique Google has been perfecting for over half a year. Starting in October, the company began to ask Google Maps users to rate their journey if they had traveled during peak commuting hours of 6 am to 10 am. Google asked about how many seats were available or if it was standing room only, in order to identify which lines had the highest number of crowdedness reports. Over time, it was able to model this data into a new prediction capability designed to tell transit riders how packed their bus or train would be. It also used this data to create rankings of the most crowded routes and stops around the world.
