Google Maps now shows how crowded your train or bus is in real-time

Being one of dozens of human sardines in a packed train or bus is bad enough at the best of times — and this is certainly not the best of times. 

That's one of the reasons Google released a new Maps tool to help you gauge in real-time how crowded your train and bus is. 

It's one of nearly 250 features Google has added to Maps since the pandemic began, including a COVID layer introduced in June that provided crucial health info and alerts. 

Google Maps uses real-time data from other Maps users to work out just how many phones (and therefore humans) are riding the rails at a given time.