Yandex opens its fuel availability and gas station queue map to everyone

Yandex has opened to all users a service that shows queues at gas stations and whether specific stations have fuel. Until now, the feature was available only to taxi drivers.

What the new map shows

The service shows whether a given station has a queue and whether it still has fuel. That solves a practical problem drivers used to handle by trial and error on the spot, driving from one station to the next. According to CNews, the feature already works in many Russian cities and is no longer limited to professional taxi drivers: any user of Yandex services can now use the map.

• Previously, the feature was available only to taxi drivers
• Now any user can access it
• The service already works in many Russian cities

Where the queue data comes from

CNews doesn't give precise technical details on the data source, but the product logic is clear. The service was originally built for Yandex's taxi fleets, which already have a constant stream of vehicle telematics data on trips, stops, and travel times. That data most likely forms the basis of the new public feature, supplemented by information from the gas stations themselves. Services abroad have long used a similar mix of trip data and crowdsourced station information — GasBuddy in the US, for example, relies on drivers' own reports on prices and fuel availability.

Why it matters for everyday drivers

For someone behind the wheel, the map saves time and frustration: there's no need to drive to several stations looking for fuel or to wait in a queue you could have spotted in advance on your phone. This is especially noticeable during local fuel shortages in some Russian regions, when long lines form at some stations while others just a couple of blocks away still have gasoline and no wait.

Similar Yandex services

Turning traffic data into a public service is nothing new for Yandex. The traffic layer in Yandex Maps, built on speed data from users' cars and taxi fleets, has existed since the early 2010s and has long been one of the service's most recognizable features. The fuel availability map is a logical extension of that approach: instead of road congestion, it shows congestion at specific gas stations.

What it means

Yandex is once again taking data originally collected for the internal needs of its taxi fleets and turning it into a public product for all drivers. Traffic and navigation in Yandex Maps followed the same path, and it now extends to the country's fuel infrastructure.