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It gives me that same feeling that people aren't using their product, but mostly about whoever designed the roads in DC. (I would like nav to notice every time

It gives me that same feeling that people aren't using their product, but mostly about whoever designed the roads in DC. (I would like nav to notice every time I miss a turn it recommends, and if it's common for people to miss specific turns, take a closer look at what's going on there without requiring a user report. Maybe they already do this, I don't know.)

pwinnski 9y ago
Oh man! I would love for any mapping app to notice that I always exit the Dallas North Tollway at Plano Parkway rather than Park Boulevard, because they're very close, but the Plano Parkway exit is free. I do the same thing when it wants me to merge onto the President George Bush Turnpike and immediately take the Midway Road exit. Again, Plano Parkway means one more stoplight (or two, in the case of Midway), but is a free exit. I do it over and over and over again, and yet every mapping app insists that I save a couple of seconds at the expense of 60 cents. Or maybe spend a few seconds extra at the expense of 60 seconds, depending on how luck or unlucky I am with the traffic signals. In general, I'd love it if mapping apps wouldn't just say "this route includes tolls," but rather "this route includes tolls of $5.10" or however much, so I could decide whether saving 11 minutes is worth it. But at least I wish they would notice that I always, always exist at Plano Parkway.
- vertex-four 9y ago
  Google Maps in the U.K. has an “avoid tolls” option.
  - doppelganger27 9y ago
    Google Maps in the U.S. has the avoid tolls option as well. I'm not the poster that previously brought up this issue, but I'm happy to use a toll road if it saves me significant time. It would be nice if I could set a threshold to say "only use toll roads if it'll save me X minutes," or something similar.
  - pwinnski 9y ago
    I don't necessarily want to avoid all tolls. I want to avoid a toll plaza that costs 50 cents to save me a single traffic light.
- reaperducer 9y ago
  >But at least I wish they would notice that I always, always exist at Plano Parkway. Google can track your shopping habits, your surfing habits, your eating habits, your viewing habits, and probably more habits than we know about. But somehow driving the same route five sevenths of the week eludes it.
Bartweiss 9y ago
> (I would like nav to notice every time I miss a turn it recommends, and if it's common for people to miss specific turns, take a closer look at what's going on there without requiring a user report. Maybe they already do this, I don't know.) Man, this would be a great project for the Boston area also. The constant name-changes and lane alterations within what humans would call "the same road" give Google Maps fits. It's painfully common to hear "take the left lane..." and then suddenly get "using the right lane, turn right" when you've got 500 feet left and ten lanes to cross. Or, even more simply, to hear "turn left" and see 4-5 different left options. Google's definitions of "gentle" and "sharp" leave a lot to be desired. It's not Google's fault, exactly - the roads here are an absolute mess - but it's certainly something they could do better with. I'm willing to bet the same mistakes happen at the same intersections hundreds of times a day.
- brownbat 9y ago
  I really want to see the first city (or more likely, small campus) where only autonomous vehicles are allowed to drive. I don't know whether roads would become far more orderly, or if there would just be an plaza with every vehicle zipping past each other at weird angles. Maybe it'd be this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIthEM6pDqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIthEM6pDqw
- reaperducer 9y ago
  > It's not Google's fault, exactly - the roads here are an absolute mess It's Google's fault for deploying a product that isn't up to the task for which it is promoted. But that's not unique to Google. You just have to look at Apple earbuds to see another example of "Works in Silicon Valley, so it must be fine everywhere else, too."

pwinnski 9y ago

Oh man! I would love for any mapping app to notice that I always exit the Dallas North Tollway at Plano Parkway rather than Park Boulevard, because they're very close, but the Plano Parkway exit is free. I do the same thing when it wants me to merge onto the President George Bush Turnpike and immediately take the Midway Road exit. Again, Plano Parkway means one more stoplight (or two, in the case of Midway), but is a free exit. I do it over and over and over again, and yet every mapping app insists that I save a couple of seconds at the expense of 60 cents. Or maybe spend a few seconds extra at the expense of 60 seconds, depending on how luck or unlucky I am with the traffic signals. In general, I'd love it if mapping apps wouldn't just say "this route includes tolls," but rather "this route includes tolls of $5.10" or however much, so I could decide whether saving 11 minutes is worth it. But at least I wish they would notice that I always, always exist at Plano Parkway.

vertex-four 9y ago
Google Maps in the U.K. has an “avoid tolls” option.
- doppelganger27 9y ago
  Google Maps in the U.S. has the avoid tolls option as well. I'm not the poster that previously brought up this issue, but I'm happy to use a toll road if it saves me significant time. It would be nice if I could set a threshold to say "only use toll roads if it'll save me X minutes," or something similar.
- pwinnski 9y ago
  I don't necessarily want to avoid all tolls. I want to avoid a toll plaza that costs 50 cents to save me a single traffic light.
reaperducer 9y ago
>But at least I wish they would notice that I always, always exist at Plano Parkway. Google can track your shopping habits, your surfing habits, your eating habits, your viewing habits, and probably more habits than we know about. But somehow driving the same route five sevenths of the week eludes it.

Bartweiss 9y ago

> (I would like nav to notice every time I miss a turn it recommends, and if it's common for people to miss specific turns, take a closer look at what's going on there without requiring a user report. Maybe they already do this, I don't know.) Man, this would be a great project for the Boston area also. The constant name-changes and lane alterations within what humans would call "the same road" give Google Maps fits. It's painfully common to hear "take the left lane..." and then suddenly get "using the right lane, turn right" when you've got 500 feet left and ten lanes to cross. Or, even more simply, to hear "turn left" and see 4-5 different left options. Google's definitions of "gentle" and "sharp" leave a lot to be desired. It's not Google's fault, exactly - the roads here are an absolute mess - but it's certainly something they could do better with. I'm willing to bet the same mistakes happen at the same intersections hundreds of times a day.

brownbat 9y ago
I really want to see the first city (or more likely, small campus) where only autonomous vehicles are allowed to drive. I don't know whether roads would become far more orderly, or if there would just be an plaza with every vehicle zipping past each other at weird angles. Maybe it'd be this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIthEM6pDqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIthEM6pDqw
reaperducer 9y ago
> It's not Google's fault, exactly - the roads here are an absolute mess It's Google's fault for deploying a product that isn't up to the task for which it is promoted. But that's not unique to Google. You just have to look at Apple earbuds to see another example of "Works in Silicon Valley, so it must be fine everywhere else, too."