Goodbye to the fastest way: Google Maps will show by default the most sustainable route

Since its inception, Google Maps has helped millions of people to reach their destination in the fastest way taking into account not only the length of the journey, but all kinds of incidents such as cuts due to construction or traffic jams. Now, however, the company has set out to prioritize sustainable commuting over the shortest or fastest path.

The ecological routes were presented in March , but it is now when Google has begun to implement them by default in the United States and has announced when they will arrive in Europe . With them, the journey is calculated taking into account factors such as fuel consumption , traffic congestion or the inclination of the road.

A little greener from next year

In order to encourage us to take the most sustainable path, starting today in the United States and starting in 2022 in Europe, Google Maps will indicate by default the least polluting route , always, yes, that the estimated time of arrival is similar to that of the fastest route.

The company assures that, with this measure, it will be able to avoid more than a million tons of carbon emissions each year, which would be equivalent, according to Google, to removing more than 200,000 cars from the road . It also claims that it will benefit the user, as by reducing fuel consumption, drivers will save money.

Until now, the recommended route (shown in blue) was the fastest, but from next year Google Maps will give priority – if the time difference is not very high – to the routes that optimize lower fuel consumption. That does not mean that it will not offer us the fastest route, but that it will show us as recommended (in blue) the most sustainable one.

In addition, we can see the relative fuel savings that the latter supposes to choose accordingly. And in case you want to see the fastest route as a priority , it will give you the option to set it like this in the application Settings.