In April Google announced a series of features that it was working on for its Maps app on both Android and iOS. One of those features has reportedly begun rolling out, with the ability to estimate the cost of a toll charge available in selected countries.
This according to Android Police, which spotted the functionality on specific routes in the United States, although other publications have not been able to access the feature at the time of writing, so it remains to be seen how quickly the roll out happens.
That said, Google has since tweeted about the feature.
For the planner friend: this new feature is for you. 🙏
Now when you’re planning trips big and small, you can check estimated toll prices before you pick a route—and spend what you save on road snacks. pic.twitter.com/Lfy8s2TXQU
— Google Maps (@googlemaps) June 13, 2022
When it does become available, there should be quite a big uptake in the feature, especially given the other rising costs associated with travel, such as fuel.
“Soon, you’ll see the estimated toll price to your destination before you start navigating thanks to trusted information from local tolling authorities. We look at factors like the cost of using a toll pass or other payment methods, what the day of the week it is, along with how much the toll is expected to cost at the specific time you’ll be crossing it,” noted Google in an April blog post.
“Like always, you can choose to avoid seeing routes with toll roads completely. Simply tap on the three dots at the top right corner of your directions in Google Maps to see your route options and select ‘Avoid tolls’,” it added.
While we would love to see such a feature be made available here in South Africa, given how contentious an issue toll roads are locally, for now only a handful of countries will gain access to the feature.
“You’ll start seeing toll prices on Android and iOS this month for nearly 2000 toll roads in the U.S., India, Japan and Indonesia — with more countries coming soon,” Google concluded.
Hopefully SA is in the “coming soon” category.
[Image – Photo by Harmen Jelle van Mourik on Unsplash]
