Mobile Technology

Google Maps now flags parking problems in metro areas

Google Maps is rolling out a parking difficulty icon
Google Maps is rolling out a parking difficulty icon

You would have been on time, but you couldn't find parking. Sound familiar? To help you avoid these types of snafus, Google is adding a parking difficulty icon to its Maps app for Android, which indicates potential problems in metro areas.

Based on historical parking data for your destination, the Maps app populates a parking icon with either "easy", "medium" or "limited". Its purpose is to offer a more accurate representation of start-to-finish travel time than driving time only.

Sorry, small and mid-sized cities – for now, the feature is restricted to 25 major metropolitan areas in the US: San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, DC, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Phoenix, Portland and Sacramento.

As of yet, Google has not indicated any plans to expand this feature to other regions or into Google Maps for iOS.

Source: Google blog

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2 comments
Tommo
not on IOS yet..? I think they missed a trick there.
rik.warren
WAZE will soon follow with real time reports, including upcoming openings.