Comments on: Californians Rejoice! Google Maps Now Understands Traffic Delays

By: Drew Stauffer

Drew Stauffer — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:29:51 +0000

This is a good step. Google should try and sync up with sigalert.com too so you can check speeds of the various roads.

By: Bushido

Bushido — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:19:20 +0000

It’d be nice for them to make some updates on some of the other countries (say Argentina) instead of giving the locals all the gimmicks.

My humble opinion. v_v

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 03:47:52 +0000

I tried this feature on maps.google.com just now for 2 trips: local san diego and SAN to LAX. Neither search returned “up to xx in traffic” result.

By: Erica Forrette

Erica Forrette — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:56:20 +0000

So true, this: “Most Californians know that you determine the length of a journey by the time it takes, not the distance.”

I’m travelling from Pasadena to Marina Del Rey tonight for a WITI event, and although I know the trip is about 30 miles and estimated 40 min drive time, I *always* double it for traffic! For the record, the new Maps feature says “up to 1 hr 40 mins in traffic” for this journey.

I do think this is useful, but for most people who already account for traffic in their travel times, maybe not. And it seems that it’s not real-time traffic reporting, just a note about “could take up to… in traffic.” However, there is a “traffic” button on the map itself, so you can (I assume) see the realtime traffic! And there’s always good ol’ SigAlert.com as well

By: Mike Mothner

Mike Mothner — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:50:28 +0000

This is truly a major advancement. Having lived in the LA area my entire life, the actual distance that you are going to travel has little impact on the amount of time it will take to get to your destination. Traffic is the true determinant, with the number of miles being secondary. To think that Google maps has now added real time traffic data is a true advantage for those of us who must face traffic on a daily basis. I can’t wait to put it to the test myself!

By: Steven Bradley

Steven Bradley — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:34:16 +0000

Now this is very cool. I’ve never lived in California, but having grown up in New York it really isn’t about the miles.

Does anyone know how accurate Google’s traffic reporting is?

By: SEO Refugee Blog

SEO Refugee Blog — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:18:36 +0000

It’s nice that someone finally tries to estimate the time traffic takes. I took a roadtrip to San Fran a couple of years back and it was supposed to take something like 6 hours of driving on our last day to get there. Due to the incredible amount of traffic (had never been to California before) it took us right at 10 hours. It was insane.

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:42:43 +0000

Thats a great feature especially when you have to get somewhere at rush hour.

By: Brian Chappell

Brian Chappell — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:51:44 +0000

Wow that will be really useful for my buddy who lives out in San Fran and has to make that exact trip every day.