When Google Maps introduced its popular Street View service to India a decade ago, it ran into government security concerns. The service, which offers 360-degree views of the streets using photos taken by vehicles, isn’t exactly new to privacy issues in every country. But it is still one of the popular offers on Google Maps.
And in India, after years of trying, Google is relaunching the service starting today. This time, Google teamed up with Indian companies Tech Mahindra and Genesys, which provided the data for the Street View service on Google Maps.
Google was able to relaunch the service in India after the government adjusted policy to allow foreign map operators to provide panoramic images by licensing the data from local partners.
How to launch Street View on Google Maps
“Our launch in India marks the first time in the world that Street View data collection is being brought to life completely by local partners,” Google said in a statement. One of its partners, Genesys International, is the first Indian company to image the streets of all major cities in India.
The service will be available in over 50 Indian cities by the end of this year. But for starters, it is available in ten cities covering a total of 150,000 km: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik, Vadodara, Ahmednagar and Amritsar.
To launch Street View, users need to open Google Maps, zoom in on a road in any of the cities where the service is available, and tap on the area they want to view. Users can also select the thumbnail with a Street View icon. It’s that simple.
Google said it is also making the Street View API available to local developers to help them deliver richer mapping experiences across their apps and services.
Speed limits on Google Maps in India
Google also announced partnerships with some local traffic authorities to help improve road safety and reduce traffic congestion. Thanks to this, Google Maps will now show speed limit information shared by traffic authorities, starting with Bengaluru and Chandigarh. More cities will be added to this service in the future, the company said.
Google has also partnered with the Bangalore traffic police to help them optimize traffic light schedules. The pilot resulted in a nearly 20% reduction in congestion at all intersections. Soon, Google said it will scale this project to all of Bangalore and will extend this pilot to Kolkata and Hyderabad in the coming months.
“In partnership with local authorities and data aggregators, we will also provide information on road closures and incidents on Google Maps in eight cities across India, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Agra,” Google said. . said.
Google also announced its collaboration with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to help people in India make more informed travel decisions by making air quality information available on Google Maps. This information can be accessed by tapping the ‘Layers’ button in the upper right corner and selecting the ‘Air Quality’ option.
