Google has officially brought back the traffic data to Google Maps driving and transit directions.

Back in July 2011, Google quietly removed traffic data from the web based version of Google Maps. Keeping traffic data only in the mobile version. Google told us then they removed it because the traffic predictions “were not as good as they could be.”

Now they are, Google said they use “both live and historic traffic data” to show traffic estimates in driving directions. Here is a picture of what I see now:

The original traffic data looked like this:

When they removed it in July, it looked empty like this:

Google told me how they source this data at Search Engine Land:

Yes, Google does crowdsource traffic data from Android phones plus they use third-party databases.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.