Google Adds San José, Costa Rica, Live Traffic Info in Google Maps

Google has added live traffic information to more than 130 U.S. cities, San José, Costa Rica, the capitals of Colombia and Panama, the company announced in a blog post.



New cities with live traffic info include Kalamazoo, Mich.; Portland, Maine; and Tuscaloosa, Ala. On top of adding new cities, live traffic conditions have also been expanded in “parts of Brazil, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K.”

Live traffic first hit Google Maps back in April 2008, and since that time the service has improved. Google Maps has come a long way since its launch, and it’s especially handy on Android phones. Sadly, Google Maps is being removed as the default maps provider for iOS users in favor of Apple’s own maps product.

Thankfully, traffic and navigation app Waze — a useful app with 20 million users — works across iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian so you don’t have to be dependent on Google or Apple for traffic info.