Google Maps is an online software program offered for free. The maps provide satellite images of the entire world in real time and in a detailed map. The maps also include names of cities, roads, streets, buildings, parks and recreational areas. While Google Maps is intuitive, some of its symbols are difficult to understand at first glance.
Single Yellow Lines
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Single yellow lines on a Google map indicate larger city roads. These are different from neighborhood roads and streets. They'll have more traffic on them and lead to retailers, restaurants and businesses. These lines are a pale yellow outlined in black or pale orange and slightly wider. The names of the roads are also written horizontally on these lines.
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Double Yellow and Green Lines
These double yellow and green lines indicate the flow of traffic on a road. Green is the fastest pace. Yellow is fast. Red and orange lines also pop up indicating slow or stopped areas of traffic. If you click on the drop-down menu at the upper right side of the map, you can click on "Traffic" and it will display these lines on the screen. Click on "Traffic" again and it will remove these lines.
Yellow Triangles with Exclamation Points
When you click on the "Traffic" category in the upper right corner of the map, these symbols will also pop up. The small yellow triangles on the map indicate traffic delays. Click on the tag and a balloon will pop up with information on that specific delay, including the area, what's causing it and when traffic will pick up again. Click on the small "X" in the upper right corner to close the balloon.
Green Trees and People
Small symbols in the shapes of trees and people on the map indicate parks and golf courses. The symbols are also accompanied by the name of the park or golf course. This is in green text under the symbol. These symbols can't be removed from the map. If you hover the arrow over the symbol, a text box will pop up with the name of the park or golf course on it.
Green Arrows or Tags
When you get directions from one address to another two little green tags will pop up on the map. Connecting these tags is a blue-gray line representing the route to take between destinations. The tag with the letter "A" in it represents the starting point. The tag with the letter "B" in it represents the ending point of the trip. To remove the symbols, right click on each one and select "Remove this Destination."