[puzzle]

Are you sure that's not Waze? Google Maps is deliberately a lot like the latter, even if both products are from the same company. Maybe there is something in the road network (e.g. a segment with bad information) along the route you are thinking of that results in what you describe.

[leeoniya]

i have never used waze. google prefers to minimize distance rather than minimizing route complexity (for some minimal distance or time cost). my wife and i have an ongoing joke that google takes you on the most "scenic" drives through the most obscure neighborhoods.

[puzzle]

Where in the world are you? If you think Maps has complex routes obsessed with shaving seconds, you should try Waze just for a day. :-)

[cuddlybacon]

Not the person you are replying to, but I find in Vancouver it does that a lot as well.

Instead of turning left at an intersection with a light and dedicated turn lane, I find it will often suggest I turn left then right then left to skip the intersection. It always turns out worse.

[puzzle]

Very interesting, thanks. Does the map show lane information? I don't know how accurate that is outside of the US. Or maybe in this case it's overestimating the impact of live traffic data for that red light. Sometimes it feels to me as if, over time, it learns from routes that it suggests and I repeatedly avoid, but that might have been just a coincidence and it might have learned that from aggregate data, not just mine.

To reiterate, though: at least until a few years ago, according to PMs involved, Google Maps was tuned to keep directions shorter and simpler to read, describe (if you're a passenger) or even remember.

[cuddlybacon]

It's pretty accurate about which lane you need to be in. I wish it would announce with more notice, but the info is dead on.

I find Google Maps _vastly_ underestimates how hard it is to turn onto a major artery without a light. It seems to think that turning left across three lanes of traffic without a light is "free". In practice, I have been stuck making these turns for 10+ minutes before. I've noticed it underestimates bridges as well.

> Sometimes it feels to me as if, over time, it learns from routes that it suggests and I repeatedly avoid, but that might have been just a coincidence and it might have learned that from aggregate data, not just mine.

That could be the case. Given my usage of Google Maps was less than once a month, it may not have had much to learn from me. I would also rate these poor experiences as bad.

[leeoniya]

> Where in the world are you?

Chicago