Use layers to find places, traffic, terrain, biking & public transport

With Google Maps, you can find:

• Traffic for your commute
• Public transport lines in a new town or city
• Cycle-friendly routes
• Satellite imagery
• Information about the landscape
• Places nearby

Tip: You can find traffic info, public transport options and local places of interest in just a few seconds. Learn more about nearby places and travel.

Get traffic, public transport or terrain info

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app .
2. In the top right, tap Layers .
3. 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
4. Tap the Map details that you want to include:
   • Public transport: 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: Street View of the area
   • 3D: Buildings in 3D
   • Air quality: Air-quality information
5. To turn off a view or hide map details, tap it again.

Tip: Traffic information isn't available everywhere.

Find live traffic for buses 

1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app .
2. Search for your destination, then select public transport directions. Read more about how to get directions.
3. If a bus route has Live Traffic for Buses information available, you can find one of the following:
   • Usual traffic
   • How many minutes are added for traffic

Learn the meanings of colours & symbols on the legend

Nearby places of interest

Mini-pins on the maps show nearby places of interest that you may enjoy. The pins are listed in different categories, including:

Food and drink: 

    

Retail:

 

Outdoor attractions:

    

Emergency services:

     

City services:

    

To learn more about the mini-pins and what they represent, consult the full legend.

Traffic

Traffic colours

The colour 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.

Tip: Grey or blue lines on the map show your routes.

Traffic incident symbols

Traffic incidents include these types of delays:

• Crashes 
• Roadwords
• Road closures
• Other incidents

To find details about what happened, click or tap the icon.

Tip: You can find road closures marked with a dotted red line where the road is closed.

Public transport

The lines on the map show bus, underground and rail routes. To find more information and upcoming trains or buses, choose a station stop icon .

To find station stops, look for public transport icons like , or .

Tip: When possible, the coloured lines on the map match the transport agency's colour system. For example, the Circle Line in London is coloured yellow by Transport for London (TfL), so it is yellow on the map.

Cycle trails

The colours show you the type of cycle 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.

Terrain

Find the elevation of the landscape, like mountains and canyons. Contour lines overlaid on the map show elevation and grey numbers show altitude.

Street View

Blue lines overlaid on the map show where Street View is available.