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Google Maps Deterring Outback Tourists, Say Small Firms (bbc.com)
Tourism operators in Australia claim inaccuracies in Google Maps are deterring potential visitors, by making remote attractions appear further away than they actually are. From a report: The Queensland government in north-east Australia has complained to Google, which says it will look into the issue. Firms looking to promote their small towns as remote tourist destinations say Google Maps inflates travel times. Outback businesses say errors in the map app can add hours to a journey. "People aren't coming to places because they think it takes too long, or they're missing opportunities to refuel and they're getting sent off on another road that has no fuel [outlets]," Robyn Mackenzie, of the Eromanga Natural History Museum, told national broadcaster ABC. "People will get frightened of travelling in the outback, because they don't have any confidence in the mapping," the general manager of the small town museum added.
You should be thanking Google Maps. In fact, Google should offer route inflation as a paid service.
Did you find that link by using Google? Because if you did, I think that town needs to take their complaint back... -1 +1.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Ah'll visit that shit; just gotta lemme bring guns - Ah've seen Mad Max.
-Likely no one anywhere
In TFA it states
In one case, the journey time from Birdsville, on the Queensland border, up to the Western Star Hotel in Windorah, in the centre of the state, was estimated to be close to 11 hours by Google Maps.
After claims the time was inaccurate, Google changed the estimated time to about 7 hours and 45 minutes. But locals say the drive is closer to four hours with no stops.
I just plotted out the same route in google maps and it told me 4 hours and 22 minutes. So either the story is wrong or google has been fixing things.
But it makes me wonder* about people estimating times. Its a 380km journey and at 100km/hr that puts it at the 4 hour mark. I can't explain where 7 or 11 hours comes from,
*Cue Stairways to Heaven
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
From the article:
"In one case, the journey time from Birdsville, on the Queensland border, up to the Western Star Hotel in Windorah, in the centre of the state, was estimated to be close to 11 hours by Google Maps.
After claims the time was inaccurate, Google changed the estimated time to about 7 hours and 45 minutes. But locals say the drive is closer to four hours with no stops."
OK so yes the original and even updated distance are a potentially bit long for a tank of gas while the four hours is not bad (are locals using the speed limit or the speed most people drive?). Still, that is the kind of distance I'd usually travel to a larger location with multiple attractions, not a small town museum (other attractions at location?). Maybe I'm just weird and don't travel enough on vacation...
I think it's all the dingoes, spiders and drop-bears that are scaring away all the tourists!
There's no cellphone coverage there anyway, so you can't get at the wrong info.
Help build better, verified sources that will help ALL search engines. It will keep them on their toes. Complaining to Google, creating bad press, might appear to be cheaper, and could even be effective for the first few communities that try it. But in the long run, it is not a good solution.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
I think Google is doing something similar to what the Interstate did with America.
Older roads use to go into small towns, where drivers will fill up, have a meal, check out a little of the local culture. Then they put in the interstate system, which connected big cities together, and drive by small towns, sometimes without an exit to them. With the promise of a fast MPH speed on the road, you can get from Point A to Point B much faster, but the small towns have been left out and are now shadows of their former self.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Proper article https://www.abc.net.au/news/20...
They can totally drop the "Natural" in the name and appeal to otaku instead.
I think Google is doing something similar to what the Interstate did with America.
Older roads use to go into small towns, where drivers will fill up, have a meal, check out a little of the local culture. Then they put in the interstate system, which connected big cities together, and drive by small towns, sometimes without an exit to them. With the promise of a fast MPH speed on the road, you can get from Point A to Point B much faster, but the small towns have been left out and are now shadows of their former self.
That's exactly what happened to Radiator Springs on route 66 when I-40 came through.
And the consequence of this election is that the government will remain shutdown for an extended time (something most on the right see as good to begin with), and then Trump will get his wall. Or do you actually believe congressional Democrats are going to best Trump in a challenge of petty childishness and ego? I mean, I have a very low opinion of them, but more ego-driving petty childishness than Trump? Not a chance.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
It's clear the democrats would rather keep the government shut down over 5 billion dollars.
Yeah and they should. They weren't elected to be Trump's toadies. Also, Democrats have already passed the same budget to reopen the government that the Senate unanimously approved last year when the GOP controlled everything. The GOP owns this not the Democrats.
I can understand why when they have people like you blindly supporting them.
Yeah, how dare they follow the will of the voters who elected them. Elections have conseqiences and this is one of them.
I remember several almost government shutdowns where Obama wouldn't sign a budget if something was left out of it. Trump is doing the same thing here, just the republican congress was quicker to fold. (Granted that is easier to stand strong when - regardless of who is in power - the media and people like you will always blame the republicans.)
You mean when we blame the person who said this on national television?
So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn’t work. I will take the mantle of shutting it down.
Sorry, but this is the Trump shutdown and the majority of Americans agree. Boohoo.
Sorry, Evolution in Action. If you're driving those roads, you should be aware of what you're getting into and not depend on a mapping program. You get an idea of the route then you CHECK IT OUT by other data. That also keeps you off of single-track roads in the Rockies in winter, too. Heck, I've found GoogleMaps not that accurate for time on US regular highways. Especially if it starts throwing wreck-delays and such in there.
It's also pretty funny that this guy seems to think we forgot that Trump stated on national television that he owned the shitdown and wasn't gonna blame the Democrats.
I'm sure there are some "alternative facts" to explain that away.
What leverage does he have to force them to give in? If he had any leverage he'd be asking for the full $25 billion he was offered last year. That he's asking for substantially less and still hasn't gotten it shows he's the cuck in this fight. Nancy's owning him and the majority of Americans are on the Democrats' side.
That's all true - but there was also tremendous opposition to some of the routes existing at all. Which meant that the road was rerouted out of town, cutting off what would otherwise have been much better local access. That they ended up doing in some cases was cutting off their nose to spite their face.
The republicans tried that when Obama was in office. He rightly said no because then he would lose leverage.
Same here.
The majority of Americans don't know about the government shutdown. And most people that know about the shutdown here it framed by the media or late night comedians as Trumps fault. The fact that only half blame him is remarkable progress (compared to the percentage that blamed Republicans for past shutdowns). Looks like his tweeting does make a difference.
At the end of the day, the democrats can end this by agreeing to 1/4 of the money they had agreed to spend last year. They aren't because they want to look big and are use to controlling the narrative.
Sorry, but your spin and alternative facts don't change this statement:
So I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn’t work. I will take the mantle of shutting it down.
The toddler owns this completely.
The majority of Americans don't know about the government shutdown.
This is the dumbest thing you've claimed so far. [citation needed]
At the end of the day, the democrats can end this by agreeing to 1/4 of the money they had agreed to spend last year. They aren't because they want to look big and are use to controlling the narrative.
They could but why would they? Toddler has no leverage. It's always funny when Republicans demand bipartisanship but what they really want is that the Democrats give them everything and get nothing in return. Your team lost the House and Pelosi is only standing for what the voters of America wanted. Also, if all this border money was so inpirtamt why didn't he demand the GOP give it to him in either the 2017 or 2018 budgets?
I haven't forgotten. He was saying he would take the hit but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't swing back.
And there was context to that line, in any case. Te democrats where telling him that he had to do whatever they said because he would be blamed for the shutdown. The fact that they are that flamboyant to the point of bragging that they control the media narrative should be enough to give you some concern (it won't though).
I can't speak for Google Maps, but I can for Waze, another navigation app. I'd be surprised if Google Maps works differently.
1) Trip times are a combination of historical trip times and current traffic conditions. Was this purported 11 hour trip time during a time of bad traffic?
2) If there is no (cell) data reception, historical and current times don't get set. Default times for road segments are often extremely high.
3) There's an option to "avoid unpaved roads". Presumably in the Outback there are many unpaved roads and if that option is set the result would be a more circuitous route.
Navigation systems promote destination-oriented driving. That likely causes some roadside businesses to suffer. In the days of paper maps, drivers focused on glancing at the map and looking for the right street sign. Hence, they would more easily notice a business sign or otherwise cool-looking side stop. With navigation apps, significantly less attention needs to be made outside the vehicle - just turn when it says so.
Everyone should use Waze. In most countries, their maps are maintained by local volunteers. Thus, drivers are more likely to get accurate mapping from someone knowledgeable and who has pride in the area. Call it selfish if you wish because it helps them - but the side effect is other drivers have a better experience. I've reported problems with Google Maps years ago that have never been fixed. Waze volunteers typically have things fixed in a few days.
They could but why would they? Toddler has no leverage
Exactly why he knows the democrats are full of shit when they say they will seriously consider it after he passes their budget. As you said, the democrats only cross the aisle if there is leverage forcing them too
Also, if all this border money was so inpirtamt why didn't he demand the GOP give it to him in either the 2017 or 2018 budgets?
Because he was dumb enough to believe twice that the discussions would happen as promised after we got through the impending shutdown warning. He isn't dumb enough to fall for it a third time with the democrats in power.
It's not the distance nor the time that's keeping people from visiting, it's that there is nothing there. Sorry.
Australia has been doing this for years as well. The Bruce Highway still has a traffic light on it but they've put a lot of effort into actually bypassing the towns. A trip from Sydney to Brisbane now takes a tad over 10 hours. It used to take 16 hours.
majority of Americans are on the Democrats' side.
Just like the media claimed in the 2016 election, right?
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
We don't eat koalas. They fall out of tree trying to eat us!
You can see here that OpenStreetMap reports a similar time: 7h25, for 532km, passing via a very long detour.
Most likely, the router doesn't like the direct road, because part of it is tagged "unpaved", and that's estimated to around 20km/h.
Anyone planning to travel in Australia off the major highways needs to do more research than just putting a route into Google Maps.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
Appeal to otaku? The outback is not exactly a section of their mothers basement.
I understood that reference.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
At the end of the day, the democrats can end this by agreeing to 1/4 of the money they had agreed to spend last year. They aren't because they want to look big and are use to controlling the narrative.
Dude, isn't is astonishing that no one in US realizes that a two party system is not more democratic, more advanced, more flexible, more efficient, more responsible, than a one party system, e.g. in China?
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
The fact that so many rely on EBT payments speaks to an inherent rot with the US population.