TomT wrote:The problem with Warz is that it is crowd sourced and thus the quality and quantity of data can vary widely... I've actually found that Google Traffic generally does a better job in the areas where I typically drive...
The crowd sourced data is a double edged sword, it both its greatest strength and greatest weakness. Abused waze will be as worthless as CB Radio, respected it will be as powerful and as up to date/accepted as Wikipedia.
The traffic data that Google has is crowd sourced as well BTW. Both systems use their own users to feed the beast. The biggest difference comes in that Waze allows its users to modify the maps to reflect road changes etc. A bad editor can 'break' a map in a locale resulting in the 'wacky' routes you refer to. If I see something I odd I simply fix it.
Using Google maps I determined my best route home after taking a new job. pretty proud of the route I developed over several weeks of trial and error, avoiding traffic 80% of the way. Averaged 1 hr in each direction. With Waze even though I dislike the routes it chooses, (taking me directly through notorious and congestion sections of interstate in the Nashville Downtown loop) the results speak for themselves, I average 45 minutes in each direction. I select shortest route in the morning when traffic is light to save electric, and choose fastest route home in the evening. Interestingly fuel economy is only marginally worse despite a much higher % time spent on the interstate.
The Navteq system built into the LEAF has superior turn directions, its a polished product, however lack of traffic data for ALL roads, not just the highways is its Achilles heel for the commuter.
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JP White
http://jpwhitenissanleaf.comBlue SL-e, Res 4/22/10, Ord 3/29/11, Del 7/30/11
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Lost 5 Capacity bars
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