Ola, Google inter-city partnership brings 'Outstation' category to Google Maps

Taxi aggregator Ola and US-based tech giant Google on Tuesday announced their inter-city travel partnership, whereby commuters travelling between cities will now be able to discover Ola Outstation, a smart mobility solution for inter-city travel on Google Maps for mobile, thereby, directing customers to the Ola app to conveniently complete the booking.

The integration between Ola and Google aims to enable access to a reliable and convenient mode of commute for long distance travel. This first-of-its-kind association in India enables bookings from 23 cities to over 215 one-way routes in the country, and will be expanded to a total of 500 routes in the foreseeable future.

Covering a significant number of routes across cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai, the integration will make Ola Outstation category accessible to an even wider customer base and bring a more fluid and convenient experience for travelers.

Once the destination is keyed in on Google Maps, the commuter can navigate to the transit tab and choose Ola as the commute option, upon which, they will be taken directly to the booking screen on the Ola app.

"We are bringing a very unique experience for long distance commuters - enabling access to our Outstation category on Google Maps itself. Ola Outstation has gained significant prominence in the past year since its launch; this association takes us a step further in making the category as reliable and convenient as intra-city commute," said Vijay Ghadge, VP of Operations at Ola.

In October last year, Ola integrated its intra-city cab travel options with Google Maps, enabling customers to discover cab options with estimated fares and ETAs. The integration especially, adds value for customers searching for directions on Google Maps when visiting different cities or navigating through unfamiliar routes.

It provides a single-window view of directions and cab options for intra-city travel, enabling a more fluid experience between apps. This prompted the two customer-focussed transportation brands to come together once again and extend the same seamless experience to inter-city travel customers.

However, Ola Outstation comes with the best fleet of cars and, trained, verified and top rated driver partners. To ensure that the customer enjoys a smooth and comfortable on-road experience, every cab on the Outstation category goes through stringent checks.