Ola partners with Google to introduce 'Outstation' cabs to Maps

Cab aggregator Ola has partnered Google for its 'outstation' category to enable commuters to find and book inter-city rides facilitated by Google maps.

"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 companies said in a statement.

The association will enable bookings from 23 cities to over 215 one-way routes in the country and in the coming weeks, the integration will be expanded to a total of 500 routes, it added.

Users will have to key in their destination on Google maps. Once that is done, 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, the statement said. "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," Vijay Ghadge, VP of Operations at Ola, said.

In October last year, Ola had integrated its intra-city cab travel options with Google Maps, enabling customers to discover cab options with estimated fares and estimated time of arrival (ETA).