With Google Maps, you can find things like:
- Traffic for your commute
- Transit lines in a new city
- Bicycle-friendly routes
- Satellite imagery
- Information about the landscape
- Places nearby
Tip: You can find traffic info, public transit options and local places of interest in just a few seconds. Learn more about nearby places and travel.
Get traffic, transit or terrain info
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app
.
- On the top right, tap Layers
.
- Tap the view that you want:
- Default: The normal Google Maps view
- Satellite: A view from above that shows individual buildings and objects in more detail
- Terrain: A view that shows mountains, lakes, and other landscape features in more detail
- Tap the map details that you want to include:
- Transit: Public transportation information, like train lines and bus routes
- Traffic: Flow of traffic on the roads
- Bicycling: Bicycle paths that you can take
- Street View: Access Street View of the area
- 3D: See buildings in 3D
- To turn off a view or hide map details, tap it again.
Tip: Traffic information isn't available everywhere.
Give & find info about public transit crowds
You can find out how crowded public transportation vehicles usually are when you search for transit directions. You can also give information about a transit vehicle’s crowd size via a notification once you start transit directions.
Give info about crowd size of a public transit vehicle
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app
.
- Start transit directions. Read more about how to get directions.
- Get on a transit vehicle. You’ll get a notification from Google Maps.
Note: When you exit the transit vehicle, the notification disappears. - Tap the notification.
- Fill out the questionnaire.
Find crowd size of a public transit vehicle
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app
.
- Search for transit directions. Read more about how to get directions.
- Tap a route.
- If the transit line has crowd size information available, you’ll find one of the following:
- Many empty seats
- Few empty seats
- Standing room only
- Cramped standing room
- Many empty seats
Find live traffic for buses
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app
.
- Search for your destination, then select transit directions. Read more about how to get directions.
- If a bus route has Live Traffic for Buses information available, one of the following will be displayed:
- Usual traffic
- How many minutes are added for traffic
What the colors and symbols mean on the legend
Nearby places of interestTraffic colors
The color code shows you the speed of traffic on the road.
- Green: No traffic delays.
- Orange: Medium amount of traffic.
- Red: Traffic delays. The darker the red, the slower the speed of traffic on the road.
Note: Gray or blue lines on the map show your routes.
Traffic incident symbols
Traffic incidents include these types of delays:
- Crashes
- Construction
- Road closures
- Other incidents
To find details about what happened, click or tap the icon.
Note: For road closures, you'll find a dotted red line where the road is closed.
The lines on the map show bus, subway, and rail routes. To find more information and upcoming trains or buses, choose a station stop icon .
To find station stops, look for transit icons like ,
, or
.
Tip: When possible, the colored lines on the map match the transportation agency's color system. For example, the “A” line in New York City is colored blue by the Metro Transit Authority (MTA), so it is blue on the map.
The colors show you the type of bicycling paths.
- Dark green: Trails that don't have auto traffic.
- Green: Dedicated lanes are roads that are shared with cars and have a separate bike lane.
- Dotted green line: Bicycle friendly roads are roads that don't have a bike lane but are recommended for cyclists.
- Brown: Unpaved trails are off-road dirt paths.
Find the elevation of the landscape, like mountains and canyons. Contour lines overlaid on the map show elevation and gray numbers show altitude.