One of my small problems when using Google Maps in a new city or country is the lack of crosswalk details for walking directions. The app can tell me that it takes twenty minutes to get from one point to another, but it can really be much more than that when you take pedestrian crossings into consideration, especially if they are not exactly in my path, but require a little Detour. Google is now starting to remedy this by implementing super-precise street details in four major cities, which include crosswalks, crosswalks and more.
The change was announced last year in August, but we only got a glimpse of it in action in December. Now, it appears that the launch is reaching more users, even though it is not yet available to everyone. We also know the four cities where these details will be available:
- London, United Kingdom (central London)
- New York, USA
- San Francisco, USA
- Tokyo, Japan (Central Tokyo)
To check out, visit one of these cities on your phone and zoom in far enough to reach street level. Once there, and if the feature is active for you, you will notice several improvements. Road widths, rounded corners and even roadside vegetation will be accurately represented. Pedestrian crossings, central flowerbeds and pedestrian islands will be indicated so that you know exactly where to cross the street. And the parks will show the actual width of the paths in dark green, as well as the stairs in gray, providing better accessibility information for anyone in a wheelchair or with a baby carriage.
We took some comparative images of the four cities below to show what you can expect.
Tokyo
Left: Tokyo intersection before. Right: Now with crosswalks.
London
Left: London roads and park before. Right: Walkways, pedestrian islands and roadside vegetation.
New York
Left: Central Park before. Right: Observe the most realistic paths (dark green) and stairs (gray).
San Francisco
Left: Great intersection in San Francisco before. Right: Width and precise curves of the road, pedestrian crossings, pedestrian islands.
These street-level details are being released as a server-side update, regardless of the Maps app version and beta status. Even on the same device, you may notice that they appear when you are signed in with one account, but are reversed when you switch to another.
