14 DAY TRIAL // Traffic data has been a really useful feature in Google Maps, for those that get it. Google rolled out the feature in the US initially and later started supporting it in other countries.
Google relies on third-party data as well as its own, so its coverage is mostly dependent on the availability of that data. Granted, Google may not want to pay for data in some countries, where the ROI would be small.
But if there are enough Android users, with both the GPS and the data connection left on and who have opted into sending anonymous location data, Google can, on its own, paint a fairly accurate picture of the traffic at any given time.
Via a combination of those two factors, probably more due to the latter, Google has now started offering traffic data in several more countries, seven to be exact.
Google Maps users in Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Mexico, Peru, Romania and South Africa now get traffic information in at least part of their countries.
The big cities and highways are covered in most cases, but it's still a welcomed addition. What's more, it's going to be in the big cities and on the highways that traffic conditions data is the most useful, the places that tend to get congested.
"Aside from these new additions, we have also improved and expanded our coverage to more roads in 19 countries and regions, where traffic data is already available; the countries include: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and the UK," Google added.
Google Maps now offers traffic data in a lot of places around the world. Most of Europe is covered, Japan, China, East Asia in general, the US and parts of Canada and Mexico.