By Joy Fang

NOW you can better plan the best way to reach a destination - and find out how much time the journey will take - at the click of a mouse button.

You can do so through a new navigation service on the Singapore version of popular map website Google Maps, which provides real-time traffic updates and travelling times on foot, and by public transport and cars.

Singapore is the first country in the world to provide both public transit and traffic information on Google Maps.

Other navigation sites here, such as gothere.sg, provide information on taxi and bus fares and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges, but do not include "live" traffic information.

Users need to enter only their location and destination in the website (maps.google.com.sg) to get directions and travelling times for each mode of transport.

At the same time, a map will separately show the traffic conditions of roads in different colours.

Users can then re-route to avoid a jam.

The free service can be accessed via the Internet. Mobile users can download an application onto their phones and will pay just the fees for Internet usage.

But unlike global positioning systems (GPS), the new service does not provide verbal directions, and covers only major roads and expressways, along with the routes of MRT, LRT and bus services.

The new service, launched yesterday, is a collaboration between search-engine giant Google and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), and it marks the first time that Google has gone into such a partnership.

The LTA provides updates on traffic conditions and public bus and train routes every few minutes, while Google works with home-grown navigationsoftware company, Quantum Inventions, to integrate the traffic data with Google Maps.

Google's geospatial technologist, Mr Ed Parsons, said that Google Maps, which has been around for five years, aims mainly to provide users with tools to help them explore the world.

"We have been enhancing it and releasing new versions every week, and this new function is part of our evolution," he said.

LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said that this new tool allows commuters to plan their journey easily.

"We want to make sure that commuters have a lot of choices, and can access information freely and easily," he said.

It may encourage more drivers to use public transport if they see that their driving routes are congested, said Mr Jeremy Yap, LTA's group director for vehicle and transit licensing.

Currently, six million people, or 59 per cent of commuters, take public transport daily. The LTA hopes to increase this to 70 per cent.

Sales executive Danny Teo, 26, said that the new service would help pre-trip planning.

"But it doesn't voice directions, which can be dangerous as I can't keep looking at the screen while driving. I will still continue using GPS," he said.

Yesterday, telecommunications company SingTel also launched a route-planning service, which factors in real-time traffic data from LTA and ERP charges, and can work out the fastest or cheapest routes for drivers.

Users pay 21 cents for each request, or $3.21 for a month's usage.

Data charges are waived.

joyfang@sph.com.sg

For more my paper stories click here.