Times on google maps

[texaskdog]

They used to be fairly accurate with a reasonable number of stops.  Now the times they estimate are way lower than you could ever travel even driving straight through.  Has anyone else noticed that?

Which program do y'all recommend that is easiest to use and most accurate?

[formulanone]

I just add 20% to Google Maps' times. They assume a human who has no side interests, no need to use rest rooms, no children, roads with no traffic nor construction, and no hunger pangs. Which is odd, because it seems to know everything else.

[cl94]

Speed limits are incorrect in several places. For example, it assumes US 20 is at least 45 in all of the Buffalo metro area (there's a lot of 30 mph thrown in there). Either that or it has an aversion to sending drivers down decent-quality county highways that save 10 minutes of time. While the app is great in places I'm not familiar with and want to stay on numbered roads, it's not so helpful if I know any shortcuts.

If I want an accurate time, I use MapQuest, which tends to be closer to reality. For me, their times are typically accurate, as the amount of time I spend at rest areas (unless I'm eating a meal) is completely offset by driving 5-10 over when possible (little chance of being caught).

[texaskdog]

Speed limits are incorrect in several places. For example, it assumes US 20 is at least 45 in all of the Buffalo metro area (there's a lot of 30 mph thrown in there). Either that or it has an aversion to sending drivers down decent-quality county highways that save 10 minutes of time. While the app is great in places I'm not familiar with and want to stay on numbered roads, it's not so helpful if I know any shortcuts.

If I want an accurate time, I use MapQuest, which tends to be closer to reality. For me, their times are typically accurate, as the amount of time I spend at rest areas (unless I'm eating a meal) is completely offset by driving 5-10 over when possible (little chance of being caught).

that is what I USED to like about google maps.  I'd get behind at a stop and I'd make time up by speeding.  Now it's just totally unrealistic.

[vdeane]

In the past I found Google to vastly overestimate the amount of time needed for trips that included significant amounts of non-freeway mileage.  Now it's about right on them.  I usually add half an hour if I need to stop to eat on a trip.

[sipes23]

The trip times it was giving on my recent road trip out west were pretty reasonable if you consider that you're going to drive the whole way with no stops and no construction. Particularly the Kalispell to Spokane and Spokane to Seattle legs of the trip. That said, I consider it to be nothing more than a ballpark figure. I always figure that unexpected traffic and construction can foul things up.