Google goes walkabout

Posted on 23 Jul 2008 at 12:58

Google has added walking directions to Google Maps, though the service still needs some polish.

The company notes that its information on pavements and pedestrian-only routes is incomplete, making the service best suited for short trips in urban areas, where it has more comprehensive data. As well as gathering more information itself, Google is also looking at ways to make it easier for users to submit feedback.

A quick comparison between Google Maps and the Microsoft-owned Multimap, which has provided walking directions for some time, indicates that Google does indeed have some work to do.

As the image shows, the sample Google route on the left is less direct and, at 3km, longer than Multimap's directions.

Andy Schwerin, software engineer at Google acknowledges that improvements need to be made.

"Walking directions are a new feature for Google, and while I'm pretty excited about it, there are some rough edges that compel us to release it in 'beta'," he wrote in a post on the Google LatLong blog.

He also advisers users to take care when following directions: "be particularly attentive in high traffic areas ... and use good judgment about streets that can't be walked".

Author: Simon Aughton

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