Whoever is responsible for Google Maps obviously doesn't live in Los Angeles. Or if he/she does they must have a wicked sense of humor. I say this because as a frequent user of this web-service, I am often amused (which is a nice way of putting it) at the estimated drive times they provide when you request directions from point A to point B.
Last night, I pulled up directions from my offices at Bundy and Wilshire to my destination near Robertson and Pico. The estimated drive time was supposedly a leisurely 10 minutes. The actual drive time? It was just over an hour.
I have a sense of humor about this, because as a regular commuter in Los Angeles you have to. Otherwise, you eventually become one of those wild drivers who yell obscenities through an open passenger door window, while finding new and creative ways of flipping the bird and trying to maintain control of an SUV whose bumper has a sticker that reads "Got Jesus?".
A 10 minute drive time? Well, maybe if you are driving at 3 o'clock in the morning and even then it's not a guarantee. Those times may well be accurate if you live in a small town in Nebraska, but in the City of Angeles, these estimated drive times are as real as the promise of selecting the winning lotto numbers. Though, when I think of it, my odds of getting a winner from the scratchers are probably better. "You've got to play to win!"
I remember the days when you measured distance in Los Angeles in miles. That's the way it works in most of the country. But in this city, you don't measure distance in miles or kilometers, but in minutes and more appropriately hours. It takes a minimum of 20 minutes to get anywhere in Los Angeles. 20 minutes is the base standard. So, don't you think the people at Google could adjust their software to accommodate those of us that drive in this city? If not just for us, but those poor folks who visit this town, use Google Maps, and actually think that they're going to get from Hollywood to the beach in less than 20 minutes.
But I suppose providing such optimistic numbers keeps us all hopeful. Because if they provided actual drive times, some of us would never bother to leave the house.
Posted by: Ibarionex_Perello on Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - 09:55 AM
