It’s official: Google Maps is now woke.
Quite how that’s possible at first glance may be a mystery. After all, the app is generally used to get you from A to B, rather than through D, E and I.
For those of us who like to travel with a little bit of time on our hands, we may want to reach our destination via a scenic route.
However, the highly requested and much-wanted feature is unlikely to be available anytime soon thanks to diversity, equality and inclusion.
Social media user @kaseyklimes, who formerly worked on Google Maps, revealed the reasoning behind the lack of a “scenic route” option on the app in a thread on X over the weekend, revealing that DEI gibberish is responsible.
“Inadvertently diverting foot traffic from low-income streets to high-income streets takes revenue and potentially tax dollars from already struggling communities and funnels it instead to richer communities,” he wrote on the platform. In other words, he’s upset that people may spend money in nicer areas if a “scenic route” option was available on the app.
Despite his desire for a scenic route option, Klimes added that the global reach of Google Maps would add a “bias” across the system compared to the current model where each street has “an equal chance” at being used to direct foot traffic.
In response to the revelations, fellow social media users were quick to vent their frustrations, with some moving towards other navigational systems such as Apple Maps instead.
Others also raised concerns over the impact on people who are directed through areas with high crime rates.
What’s your view on Google Maps? Let us know in the comments below.
