Google Maps expanding transit crowd predictions

Google Maps will be expanding its predictions of transit crowd sizes to cover over 10,000 transit systems in 100 countries, the company announced Wednesday.

The feature — which gives estimates of business on subways and buses using user contributions and artificial intelligence — is being expanded to help people make safe decisions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“While people are returning to public transit — with transit directions on Maps increasing 50% compared to last year in the U.S. — safety remains top of mind,” said Eric Tholomé, director of product for Google Maps. 

The feature will be available on the latest version of Google Maps on both iOS and Android.

Google is piloting a version of the feature in New York and Sydney that shows how crowded transit is to the level of individual subway cars.

More cities will be added to that pilot soon, the company said.