Bing Maps

Microsoft adds 35,000 live traffic cameras to Bing Maps

Microsoft may have just given millions of people a reason to use its own mapping solution. That’s because the Bing Maps team revealed in a blog post earlier today that it has added more than 35,000 real-time traffic cameras across 11 countries to Bing Maps.

To access the cameras, you’ll first need to enable the Traffic layer on Bing Maps. Once enabled (also make sure that the Cameras slider is in the “on” position), simply zooming in a bit on major roadways will surface viewable cameras (designated by small camera icons). To view a camera’s feed, click on the icon.

If you want to check out more than one camera at a time, just click “return to summary” and you’ll be presented with an overview of recently viewed cameras.

Microsoft has been sprucing up Bing Maps over the course of 2015 via multiple feature additions. In July, the Redmond-based company introduced a major visual overhaul of Bing Maps (via a preview phase) that more closely resembles Google Maps (that’s not a bad thing). And just last week, Microsoft added new transit features to make it easier to plan commutes for those that rely on public transportation.

Traffic cameras certainly aren’t anything new and in this day and age of navigation apps, one could argue that they’re a bit archaic. Then again, live traffic cams offer a quick and true assessment of roadways that doesn’t rely on algorithms or other data which isn’t always entirely accurate.