Why did Google Maps fail in the Bareilly Bridge tragedy?

India Today talks to Google India, a police officer, and a road safety specialist to understand how Google Maps recommends routes.

Google Maps leads them to an unfinished bridge, where three people perish.
Google suggests maps based on local authority information and real-time data.
The incident calls into doubt the accuracy of Google Maps.
On November 23, three guys who were allegedly traveling along a Google Maps-recommended route to a wedding fell into a river in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. They immediately passed away, joining an increasing number of people who have paid the price for relying too much on the well-known navigation software.

Google Maps is without a doubt the industry leader in worldwide navigation. For their everyday commutes, crores of Indians rely on it to help them plan hassle-free trips by providing them with information about routes to travel, turns to take, and lanes to avoid.

What can go so terribly wrong, then? How does Google Maps advise users on routes and alert them about road closures?

Although Google Maps' precise technology is proprietary and not publicly available, it is generally accepted that it employs Dijkstra's method to determine the shortest path between two points. Many people believe that the simplest algorithm for resolving the shortest path problem is Dijkstra's algorithm.

Google Maps mainly uses information from two sources to provide the best route: local government data and aggregated real-time data from other Google users. Users can report closed roads, non-existent roads, and missing roads using Google Maps' "update road" feature.

According to its Maps Content Partnership page, Google Maps has partnered with government agencies at the national, regional, and even local levels as well as business organizations that possess trustworthy geospatial data in order to enhance the app.

Google Maps can learn about speed restrictions, tolls, and when some roads are closed because of construction or COVID-19 thanks to authoritative data. According to a Google Maps blog post from September 2020, "And incident reports from drivers let Google Maps quickly show if a road or lane is closed, if there is construction nearby, or if there is a disabled vehicle or an object on the road."

The tech giant permits government bodies to submit geospatial data, or information about locations, in a variety of forms.

However, it is unclear which states, local governments, or district administrations, if any, have a formal system in place for sharing data with Google Maps.Additionally, it's unclear if Indian government agencies use Google's Maps Content Partnership portal to exchange geographic data.

A top traffic police officer in the Bareilly case told India Today that he had no idea whether Google had received any traffic data at all.

When government agencies share voluntary public data with a private corporation like Google, ethical issues could still be a problem. Although Google Maps is free for individual users, it earns revenue from other big companies that need mapping and navigation services. For instance, both large and small ride-sharing businesses, online merchants, and food delivery services pay Google hefty fees to use its services.

Google India's response to India Today's specific questions regarding its data partnership with local authorities in India was restricted to the Bareilly accident. "We send the families our sincerest condolences. We're assisting the authorities in their investigation and are collaborating closely with them," a Google representative said in a statement.

PREVENTABLE DISASTER

 
However, many contend that the tragedy in Bareilly could have been avoided with the use of Google Maps.

Google Maps, which gathers a ton of user data, is to blame for this carelessness. Since the bridge fell more than a year ago, no traffic has used that route. "If this is the case, how can Google Maps suggest a road that hasn't been used in over a year?" wonders Amit Yadav, the director of the National route Safety Mission, a program that aims to increase youth and kid knowledge of road safety.

He contends that the Google Maps algorithm ought to have detected this abnormality, possibly saving lives.

"ItOthers expressed dissatisfaction about the government officials in charge of building the bridge's failure to erect sufficient signage making it obvious that it was broken. According to local media, a roughly four-foot wall that had previously been built to block access to the bridge—which the victims used—was subsequently partially destroyed. According to a victim's relative, the map should not have depicted the bridge as complete and motorable, even though the road should have been stopped.

The issue isn't specific to Google Maps. The road was also displayed on MapMyIndia's Mappls. The road may be found in both Bhuvan and MapMyIndia. However, it makes no difference what the navigation app is," Raj Bhagat, a remote sensing specialist, wrote on X (previously Twitter).

THE EVENT
On Saturday evening, Nitin Kumar was traveling from Gurugram to Bareilly with his relatives Ajit Kumar and Amit, both of whom are in their 30s. Unaware that the bridge was not finished, they crossed the Ramganga river close to Khallpur hamlet on their way from Dataganj in Budaun to Faridpur in Bareilly.

According to satellite photos India Today examined, part of the bridge fell in September 2023. It is said to have collapsed amid floods.

According to a local police officer, they discovered the driver's smartphone running the Google Maps program, suggesting that the passengers may have depended on the guidance tool.

Even though the bridge route was not available on the app for four-wheelers, India Today discovered on Monday, November 25, that Google Maps continued to recommend it to users who chose to walk the distance. Boats are the only means of crossing the river.