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Android Google Software Transportation Technology

Google Maps Will Tell You If Your Taxi Driver Is Veering Off Course To Rack Up a Higher Fare (bgr.com) 115

Google Maps is rolling out a new feature that will tell you if your taxi driver goes off-route in an attempt to rack up a higher fare. Sure, you could always use Google Maps to pick the shortest route possible, but the newest feature does the work for you. BGR reports: The feature is especially useful in cities you don't know, but also at home, allowing you to get live updates on your route. Google Maps will send an alert to your phone every time you're off-route by 500 meters, xda-developers explains. Moreover, your route will not be rerouted automatically, which is what happens when deviating from your route while using Google Maps for regular navigation. That's because the feature will help you stick to your chosen route rather than continuously adapting it.

Once you start receiving the alerts, you should notify the driver that you're aware of the changes he or she made, and ask to revert to the shortest route possible. It's unlikely they'll try to cheat again once it's clear you're keeping tabs on the journey. And don't believe them when they say that traffic is the reason for the detour unless you can verify it with Google Maps, which should give you an idea of what traffic to expect on your route. It's unclear whether the feature will be available in other markets or when it'll launch. You'll want to be on the lookout for new Maps buttons that says Stay safer and Get off-route alerts in the navigation menu to take advantage of it.

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Google Maps Will Tell You If Your Taxi Driver Is Veering Off Course To Rack Up a Higher Fare

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  • I've used Google's traffic-based routing. I can do better by hand in places I know well. A taxi driver ought to be able to do better yet.

    I remember being in an Uber car when the order's traffic map and the driver's traffic map differed. We discussed the problem, and based on my knowledge we were able to conclude they were within a few minutes of each other.

    • Right, also different maps may adjust differently based on traffic conditions on the fly. Just looking at a map a few times while driving is enough to see I they are way off course and ask why if you want.

    • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

      I've used Google's traffic-based routing. I can do better by hand in places I know well.

      This. Google's routing is weird, it'll often give 3 potential routes, all with good bits but none of them with all of those good routing bits in one route. It often misses obvious good routes.

      London roads change on an almost daily basis due to construction of buildings and road works and the occasional march or protest, Google maps doesn't keep up. So will Google maps be telling people the driver is veering off-course wh

  • by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Monday June 10, 2019 @06:40PM (#58742304) Journal
    Uber might be evil but this problem is now solved.
  • by AndyKron ( 937105 ) on Monday June 10, 2019 @06:42PM (#58742312)
    So the driver is going to get all scared and never do it again when you tell him he's going the wrong way? Hey, I got this one covered, watch this video and see what REALLY happens! https://www.liveleak.com/view?... [liveleak.com]
  • No way in heck this is going to work in cities which are extremely complex to navigate; like say Los Angeles.

    Google (and Apple for that matter) maps suck big time in LA - sending you on crazy circuitous routes, especially around Downtown LA.
  • by Anonymous Coward

    They won't veer off course anymore, they will keep to the big streets, with a hundred bloody red lights one after another, because you don't want your driver to take the smaller streets that skips them all.

  • by mark-t ( 151149 ) <{moc.talfdren} {ta} {tkram}> on Monday June 10, 2019 @07:18PM (#58742442) Journal

    It's been my observation that a cab driver will typically make more money by getting more fares per unit of time than he or she will by making any single fare take somewhat more time than it should.

    It stands to reason that they would want to generally try and get you to where they need to take you as quickly as possible so they can hopefully get another fare nearby.

    • by fafalone ( 633739 ) on Monday June 10, 2019 @07:40PM (#58742544)
      Several times I've had to say something to indicate 'I'm not a fucking tourist so knock it off' to NYC cabs. Usually because they'd turn onto a packed minor crosstown street in Manhattan instead of just going to a faster moving major one. And the traffic on Google maps seems to have no basis in reality for anything less than 'Nobody moving anywhere whole area is gridlock' and then it doesn't much matter.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • by Anonymous Coward

          I hav ealso know a taxi driver who took his client around the city, while the hotel he want to go was on the other side of the street. Directly opposite the taxi stand.

          I know it isn't fair to blame the victim, but his hotel was across the street? People that stupid shouldn't leave home.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      With companies like Google, always look beneath the stated benefits and ask yourself what they're really up to?
      Maybe their own ride sharing platform, starting with data on what the common taxi cab routes are?

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      At slow times of day it's better to drag the journey out.

      Uber also encourages this due to surge pricing. The more taxis that are available the lower the price gets. Sometimes the drivers collude to all go unavailable for a while, let the price go up and then come back online.

    • Depends on where you are.. I never experienced it in Europe until one day I ordered a taxi from Berlin/Tegel airport in English, and it started taking a rather nice touristy route. I have been able to reproduce it several times, until I learned to switch to German faster when in Germany, never happens when ordering in German, and never happens outside the airport.

      Though I actually suspect the reason they do it, is because the fastest and most direct route for most things in Berlin is _super_ wierd and twist

      • by mark-t ( 151149 )
        In general, the driver will make more money in a day by just getting as many fares as they can in the day than they will by extending any single fare. The longer they make a trip take, the less likely it is that the rider will offer a significant tip.
        • In general, the driver will make more money in a day by just getting as many fares as they can in the day than they will by extending any single fare. The longer they make a trip take, the less likely it is that the rider will offer a significant tip.

          It is different for the taxis that wait at the airport, they have long lines of taxis waiting. They are likely to wait an hour or more from arriving to getting a passenger. So you are probably right at night in city when it is busy, but further out like at airports, it makes a difference. Then again I did provide an alternative suggestion on why it happens.

  • Can Google Maps tell me where to get the good weed?

    (Yes, I know weed is fully legal here in Cali, but there is still some legendary shit on the street. At least that's what I'm told.)

  • by jtara ( 133429 )

    "What's a taxi, Mommy?"

  • I take taxis/Uber/whatever a few times a day, in a metro area I know well. Google gets it right about 80% of the time. Very occasionally it will produce a big mess, but for that other 20% it usually just does something stupid, like putting you on an expressway that doubles the mileage to save you a theoretical 2 minutes.
  • I commend google (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cdsparrow ( 658739 ) on Monday June 10, 2019 @08:34PM (#58742794)

    On figuring out how to get people without cars (or taking mass transport or walking, etc) to use navigation and still supply all that yummy data, lol.

  • the great cabbies know how to get ahead of the flow with clever routes

    google knows none of that, as anyone who gets a route from them during rush hour knows

    • No, Google DOES know. Google knows what normal traffic flow is like and ALSO knows things like a truck overturned ahead, something a cabbie couldn't possibly know. You guys need to face it: route mapping is a simple graph problem and no "experience" can beat it. Just like Chess, computers do it better because they have more information to access.

      • Google maps in theory can do better route finding, but in practice, I've found it does better route finding than I do when I don't know the area, but worse route finding when I do know the area. YMMV.
        • by Tomahawk ( 1343 )

          Agreed. On my drive to work I can typically knock several minutes off the journey by not following Google Maps at time. There are instances when I'd make a turn that it's not even listing as an alternative route, it would recalculate, and take 5 minutes (yes, 5!) off the journey time.

          So why didn't it find that route in the first place?!

        • Google maps in theory can do better route finding, but in practice, I've found it does better route finding than I do when I don't know the area, but worse route finding when I do know the area. YMMV.

          I think this mostly depends on whether Google Maps is frequently used for navigation in the area. In areas where Maps (or Waze) are heavily used, Google has good, current traffic data. In areas where Maps isn't used enough, Google doesn't. Yes, if you have location history turned on, Google does get occasional location updates even when you aren't using navigation, but they're too infrequent to provide much traffic info. This is to avoid using too much battery. When you're navigating, the GPS receiver i

          • That's possible. The places I've used Google maps the most are in Silicon Valley and Tokyo Japan, so I expect they probably have good data for both places. Note I'm not complaining, Google Maps is great, but just commenting on capability level.
            • That's possible. The places I've used Google maps the most are in Silicon Valley and Tokyo Japan, so I expect they probably have good data for both places. Note I'm not complaining, Google Maps is great, but just commenting on capability level.

              Dunno. I have used it a lot in Silicon Valley, and find it to be moderately accurate. Traffic variability is insane there because traffic is insane there, so I kind of give it a pass on that. But I also wouldn't say that I know the area well. I visit frequently but have never lived there. In my area (northern Utah), it's incredibly accurate, often predicting arrival times to the minute in the face of what looks to me like very unpredictable traffic. Also, I know the area very well and consistently fin

      • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

        Google may "know", but they sure enough fuck it up often enough that I would hesitate to tell a cabby off unless I was damn sure.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • wrong, Google only knows the major routes and has zero data on the routes I'm talking about. That's why google always is worse than savvy locals.

        but you react like a google shareholder, heh.

  • I would hang a sign in my car stating:
    Any Passenger who makes use of Google maps to verify the route that I choose to take, to take you to your destination, shall
    immediately be dumped at the curbside and forced to walk, regardless of where that may be. You are free to exit my cab upon
    entrance if you do not like my policy.
    • by Cederic ( 9623 )

      I would get in your cab and ask you why the fuck you thought you had the right to dictate the mobile apps your passengers view, and just what the fuck you were trying to hide anyway.

      While recording the conversation, so that if you tried to kick me out nowhere near my destination I could lose you your licence.

      • by iwbcman ( 603788 )
        And in turn I would park the cab, leave the meter running and call the police to remove this nuisance from my cab. My cab, my service, don't like it, don't use it. Welcome to America. I am not your servant, I drive a cab and provide services to those who want it.

        What an entitled asshole.
        • by Cederic ( 9623 )

          I can only recommend very strongly to you that you do not try to become a taxi driver. You'll end up in a lot of trouble very fucking fast.

          Even in shithole america.

    • Reminds me of the "No Yelpers" signs showing up in some restaurants.
    • I would thank you for giving me a heads up that you were going to long-haul me and get out of your cab immediately.

  • Every taxi in NYC makes it their duty drive through the central gridlock regardless of your origin or destination. Bonus points if it manages to come to a complete halt at the Times Square. They seem to always veer off course in that general direction like flies to honey.
  • When you arrive in a new country you likely won't have a data package. Roaming costs for data are huge unless you have some deal with your own mobile provider. So putting this on in the taxi from the airport to your hotel could cost you a lot more than when you'd 'save'.

    It's a nice idea, though.

    • by Cederic ( 9623 )

      Luckily airports are very good at offering non-taxi alternatives and/or having a proscribed price for transfers.

      In the last year I've taken the train from the airports in Berlin and Sydney, a bus from the ones in Malta and Hong Kong and just picked up hire cars at others. The queue for a taxi is usually longer than just taking the public transport alternative.

  • They could just predict a ripoff (instead of a thunderstorm) and be right most of the time.

    Unless you live in Arizona where they just predict hot and sunny every day and are right 95% of the time.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Why should any taxi give two shits about your phone telling them something different than his own systems do?
    "Gee, well I never realized I was that far off. Ok here's a bit of a discount." ???

    This is as useful as tits on a bull.

  • I've recently been playing around with Maps on routes I am well familiar with. I would not use this tool as the basis for accusing a cabbie of anything. Sometimes it claims lanes ahead are blocked when they are not. Sometimes "shorter" routes are through crowded narrow back streets full of potholes. It also likes to try to reroute me to save 2 minutes, but by the time I get there the alternate route is also crowded. I'll give it credit though, in low traffic conditions the estimated arrival time is sometime
  • All the uber and lyft drivers I've used cared about giving the best ride possible. They're far more intersted in 5 stars than a quick buck.

  • People still use taxis?

    An INSANELY bad user experience combined with MONOPOLY pricing and literally zero opportunity to provide real feedback (at least, none that matters, like any taxi driver EVER gave a shit).
    In what universe does this industry still exist?

    yes folks, I used to use taxis, then I grew a brain and decided I wasn't going to put up with their shit anymore.

    Also, yes (arguably) Uber and Lyft are NOT MUCH BETTER .... but they ARE better (at least a little, in some ways) and the taxi industry
  • There's no point to this. Uber and Lyft guarantee your fare. It's not going to be less if you go a smidge shorter on your route. I get people who get in my car and want me to uturn on a residential street, thinking it'll save them on the .3 miles if I just went forward and drive around the block. If the shortest route is full of lights and traffic but there's an equal time route that's highway and less stressful, I'm going there less stressful route. If the passenger disagrees, I'll be happy to end the rid
  • On several occasions I've taken a taxi in a new city and got taken on the "scenic route" by taxi drivers.

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