How dependent are you of your cell phone GPS?

[kap]

My relative new job is 11 miles from our apt. For the past 2 months I had commuted using the same surface streets suggested by the GPS. It would take 1 hour, sometimes 1-1/2 hours, to get home. One night I decided to not listen to my Android GPS. It shaved 10 minutes off my route! GPS algorithm miley-shocked003:

[hal]

GPS tend to go for the easiest route, but not necessarily the fastest.

[Mr Downtown]

Well, I've never used it, so not very dependent, I guess.

When I'm walking around an unfamiliar place, I will sometimes look at maps on my phone if I don't have a paper map. But I much prefer the maps.me model of showing me a distance and bearing (your hotel is 600 meters in that direction) to having some voice tell me to "turn left on unnamed lane for 65 meters; then turn right on unnamed lane for 20 meters."

I only drive a few times a year, but when I do, I much prefer to get the overall route in my head before setting out.

[Speedy]

I’m dependent for its capability to measure my workout distance. But I also use it when traveling by car to parts unknown.

[modelamac]

kap,

No GPS program can beat local knowledge. Traffic patterns vary by daytime of day, by weather, by construction, by local events, accident rates, school bus traffic, and who knows what else. Most of the time I can beat Maps recommendations in familiar areas but I don't try in strange territory unless road signs tell me to.

[Ombligo]

I used a GPS for about a week 15 years ago, it was useless. The paper issued them to replace the map books we had carried for years. I sent it back and kept the maps I. I can glance at it and within a few seconds have the route in my head.

I'll use google maps on my laptop in place of paper today, but once I leave the house it is all in my head.

[datbeme]

I know Google will eventually make it unusable, but I've been highly dependent on Waze for several years. Having real time crowd-sourced info is crucial.

Many years ago we were at a travel sports event in a busy city. So about 20 families with separate rental cars navigating to the same hotels, fields and restaurants. Someone suggested using Waze, and it was the first time I'd ever heard of it. A handful of us downloaded it and gave it a shot. The very first trip back to a hotel took us on a bizarre route that had my wife complaining that this was really messed up. Couldn't be right. But it was rush hour, and the trip took us about 20 minutes vs. nearly an hour for the non-Waze majority in our group.

I can't say it's always been perfect, but for the most part, this has been the story again and again over the years. Hop on a familiar expressway and get rerouted to something that in your experience makes no sense? Ignore it at your peril. You assume you know better because you've driven it a million times, but you don't know about that accident that traps you in gridlock for 45 minutes.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Being able to pick a route to beat a GPS/Map app is pretty advanced. It requires knowledge of how traffic patterns change during the day.

I have no problems using a paper map to go someplace unfamiliar but that means I can get stuck in typical traffic. Unusual traffic like an accident is bad news.

[Racer X]

hal wrote:
GPS tend to go for the easiest route, but not necessarily the fastest.

VERY true. There is one southbound on ramp to I-5 in downtown Seattle that is a trap between about 2:30pm until about 7pm. GPS always sends you there, along with 75 thousand other people. The only way to get through that area is to break traffic laws.

[Sarcany]

Some GPS apps are designed to navigate the fastest route using real-time and historic traffic analysis.

Some just take you by the most direct route, perhaps with a few options to avoid highways and tolls.

It seems that some people here have only used the latter type.