Google Philippines has just announced that they are making some major updates to the Google Maps, many of which can be very useful at avoiding hassles for motorists.

Chief of these updates is a feature that allows Google Maps to provide route options if your car is adversely affected by the MMDA's UVVRP, a scheme more commonly known as number coding.

UVVRP (Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program) bars motorists from using their cars in certain areas of the metropolis based on the ending digit of their vehicle license plate (or conduction sticker, for the many vehicles still without plates). Many other cities within the metropolis have already adopted their own versions of UVVRP. Theoretically, number coding can reduce traffic by banning up to 20% vehicles on any given weekday.

Waze, another “crowdsourcing” navigation app that Google also owns, already has a feature that warns users of areas along their route that are covered by number coding, though this is the first time that Google Maps will get it.

The user will have to enter their vehicle's ending number into the app, and it will warn the user if the roads on the way are affected by number coding, and supposedly offer alternate routes to try and avoid coding roads.

Google says the feature will start to get rolled out via app updates in the next few weeks. We actually updated and checked the Google Maps app, and it seems the feature is still just a warning.

In the meantime, here's our comprehensive guide to the un-unified number coding and the roads and routes of Metro Manila.