Should We Take the Back Road? Just Google It

Those whiz kids in Mountain View think of everything, don't they? Google Maps has provided real-time traffic updates related to major freeways for a while, but now they've added side roads.  Although my commute consists of a 20-yard stroll down the hallway to my home office, I've experienced the frustration of taking a side road to avoid traffic only to realize that I'm not the only one who thought I was so brilliant.

The added traffic updates are only for "select" cities -- i.e., large and tech-savvy metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Seattle, etc. (so my little town of Ben Lomond probably doesn't make the cut) -- according to TechCrunch and a Google blog dedicated to its maps division.

For those of you who are not familiar with Google's traffic feature, here's a brief primer on how it works, from TechCrunch: "When you zoom-in on the city you're interested in and click the 'Traffic' button in the upper-right corner of the map, you'll see the traffic conditions of both arterial roads and highways. The colors correspond to the speed of traffic green is little to no traffic, yellow is medium congestion, red is heavy congestion, and red/black is stop-and-go traffic."

Perhaps it goes without saying, since most people don't drive with a laptop balanced on the steering wheel, but the function also is available as a mobile application for your phone (Google Maps for Mobile). Here is a promotional video for Google Maps Traffic Information (via YouTube, which is owned by Google):

If you're stuck in traffic and really want to impress a date, though, check it out while he or she isn't looking and play the hero card.

Image courtesy of Google