Slashdot Mirror
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.
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?
Seriously though, nobody should be relying on Google Maps to plan a trip somewhere like the Outback. Outback steakhouse, sure. A place where taking a wrong turn or getting stranded could be fatal? Ask a human being. Google warns people when a store's operating hours may be different because of holidays, it would seem that a warning when traveling through the middle of freaking nowhere is warranted. "Consult local resources before making this trip or you may die." "Fragile ecosystem - do not deviate from marked paths!" "Seasonal access only - conditions out of season may be fatal."
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.
Same for driving through the US's deserts and mountain ranges. Even the interstates have some danger; they will warn you with things like "last fuel / cell reception for 80 miles".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In the before google era there were travel agents and tourist information kiosk's that would help you plan an itinerary around the various places. You would see something like the Birdsville races on a travel show and then you would speak to tourist information or a travel agent to organise an itinerary that would include various stop offs around the region.