The tech giant Google has been continuously working towards improving its services for its consumers. Similarly, for its most widely used GPS app, Google map, Google has been adding new features to it to make navigation simpler for its users.
Google has already added Uber to its Google Map app, from where the users can book cabs for them. Now on Thursday, Google announced that it is going to partner with Lime and will show the location of nearby Lime battery-powered scooters, on Google Map. Google is planning to do so, in order to shorten the commute times for its users, as they will be able to rent those ride from the app.
Google, in its blog, said that after getting out of a taxi or a subway, the 15 minutes walk can be reduced to a smaller ride with the help of those scooters. Google will now display the nearby Lime scooters on the Google Map app, as another transport option, and after the users tap on it, they will be redirected to the Lime app. If there is no lime app on their smartphones, they will be redirected to the Apple Store or Play Store, so that they can download the app. And then, the users can book those scooters and bikes, from the app.
For now, the service will be available only in thirteen cities worldwide, i.e., Auckland (NZ), Austin, Baltimore, Brisbane (AU), Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Antonio, San Jose, Scottsdale, and Seattle. And, after the successful testing of the services, Google is planning to expand it into other cities as well.
The app not only will show the distance of the vehicle form users’ location but also will display the total journey time, battery consumption, the total cost for the journey and the number of other Lime vehicles nearby.
Lime, in the time of its 14 months operation, has fulfilled almost 1.5 million bike and scooter rides and has raised $467 million in funding to date, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, being one of the biggest investors in it. The partnership between the two companies is not only beneficial for them business-wise, but will be a great contribution in reducing the congestion and carbon emissions.
Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.