Google Maps may finally add toll costs to improve your journey planning

Google Maps may soon show users which routes will incur tolls, as well as automatically displaying the charge of each toll. That’s according to several messages sent to inside personnel of the Google Maps preview program, which suggests that the next major addition to the navigation platform could be the new toll cost info.

If Google goes ahead with the update, costs for tolls on bridges, roads, and other potentially pricey obstacles within your route will be included in your map layout to help you avoid them, hopefully saving you money in the process.

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According to Android Police, a member of the preview program was "instructed to take a survey in order to direct the Maps development team on how best to implement the feature."

The messages hint that the new feature will display toll prices, amongst other bits of useful journey information like cumulative toll charges along any given route. With a more granular breakdown of what toll charges a user can expect to encounter, travelers can engage in more robust pre-journey planning, rather than just pitting one route against the other based on scarce data points.  

The Road Less Traveled

Specific toll prices aren’t available in the existing version of the app, so including these would be a real boon to travelers looking to make more informed decisions ahead of their journeys. If it's occurred to you that Waze already has this feature, then you'd be right. The news possibly signals yet another example of Google Maps' penchant for improving its own route-planning finesse options by porting over features from the GPS navigation software app, Waze. 

We think Google Maps is a more versatile and savvy navigation app than, say, Apple Maps; more, it’s likely the best journey-planning tool currently available for the pick of the best iPhone and best Android phones. Throw in this nifty new feature that could help you avoid racking up toll charges along the way, and you have an even stronger case for Google Maps being the only navigation solution you need across both Android and iOS.