Skift Take

This Google service relies both on Android users worldwide and use of Google Navigation and as those numbers grow so should the traffic snapshots from back roads in Kalamazoo to the German Autobahn.

Google just launched live traffic info for Bogotá, Panama City and San Jose (Costa Rica). In addition, Google is also bringing its real-time traffic data to 130 smaller cities in the U.S., including Kalamazoo (Michigan), Portland (Maine) and Tuscaloosa (Alabama). For the most part, this feature relies on data Google gets from Google Maps and Google Navigation users who share location data with the company. As Android becomes more popular and as more users use their phones for directions as they are driving, Google obviously gets more data. Thanks to this, it can now show live traffic for side roads and arterial roads that don’t typically see as much traffic as a highway or major urban area, for example.

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Tags: android, maps, traffic

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