Google Maps Introduces New Parking Availability Feature On App's 9.44 Beta Build

Google maps have made a new update which introduces a parking availability feature to ensure that Maps will become more indispensable for users. The update can be found in the application's 9.44 beta build. It provides information to users on how busy parking spaces are likely to be at their destination.

The new feature has a graded system of easy, medium and limited for parking availability at certain destinations, displayed with the estimated arrival time on the main screen. The beta app warns users about parking availability at their destination. Although, it will not offer real time parking information, it provides advice based on how hard it normally is to find spaces in a given area.

 It will not only inform users of the availability of parking slots, it will also details whether a destination has easy, medium, or limited parking spaces, Telegraph reports. However, the feature will only be available in certain location, for instance, even if the beta application is available to users in Paris, for instance, the parking availability feature will not work in the city.

It is reported that the parking availability feature is already working in some locations in Maryland but it is confined to public spaces like airports and shopping malls. The beta application is available for download at APK Mirror.

Although, it is still unclear where Google gets the data to support the service and how the parking feature works, sources believe that the insights are gotten from users' location data and other contextual information including traffic conditions between users' location and their destination.

It could also be that Google utilize its own technologies such as the Flow Transport Coordination Platform to enhance data analytics, according to Techtimes.

According to reports, Google is providing more general parking information and users will be provided an estimate how a destination usually has easy, medium, or limited parking labels with more details ensuing and the app providing a more descriptive text as users gets close to destination.

Similar features have been running in other navigation app such as Waze. It collaborated with Inrix to create the feature last year and it is already able find open parking slots for its users.

 Google recently added a feature that gives life information about how busy public places are, it allows users to check, for instance restaurants peak times. It is also adding popular times and average duration to business profiles.