Sat Navs

[Rat Catcher]

I recently learned that Waze has a Taxi travel mode option* so set all my rideshare apps to use Waze for navigation. That works quite well... pressing the android auto button on the car's infotainment screen brings Waze up there and you get the in-app navigation on the phone where such in-app navigation exists - Come on Tap, get the finger out!

So I was up above in Dublin yesterday afternoon and after getting a Free Now (15% commission) job from Santry to Liffey St Lwr I took a Bolt job from King St. Nth back to DAP, c.16:30. For a North County blow in like myself that there is straight line but with my new set up both Waze on the car screen and Bolt (built on Google Nav API) were telling me to go through the port tunnel and persisted with that direction till I got passed Drumcondra. The ETAs given for the tunnel route were a couple of minutes ahead of what I achieved in extremely heavy traffic sticking to the straight line that has served me well enough for the past 30 odd years. I think the port tunnel northbound toll is €13 or €14 at that time so while I may (or may not - all the satnavs tend to increase their ETA as traffic accumulates) have taken a couple of mins longer to get the client to the airport I maintain that my route was both the most direct route and the most economical route. Any thoughts?

*Interestingly, there is a Taxi travel mode available to developers using the Google Navigation SDK as do Bolt and Free Now so I'm not sure why those firms haven't used it. Waze is owned by Google these days so one would imagine the Taxi route data is shared across both platforms... anyway it has prompted me to throw a navigation app together myself using the Google Navigation SDK.... I need to get up to Dublin when there's not too much traffic to test it in the real world but I did test it using mock location and it failed miserably which might explain why Free Now and Bolt haven't deployed it and why it isn't an option on Google's own Maps/Nav app. Waze certainly directed me down the quays from Burgh Quay to Heuston so that seems to work in Taxi mode and that would be one of the routes I'd like to test my Google Nav SDK built app on. Watch this space!

[mercenary for hire]

I don't think the navigation on the taxi apps are choosing the shortest route but instead the quickest route which is usually more expensive through the tunnel and probably breaking the law.We are supposed to prioritise the short route I thought?

That's why I won't cover the airport shit.The only winners are the tunnel owners and Uber.Drivers end up netting a lot less for roughly the same amount of time on the road.

Anytime I tried waze I couldn't get used to the interface.

 

[watty]

NTA fare calculator has it €21.60 - €31.60 (incl €3 booking fee) daytime through Drumcondra. 

Alt route is via Finglas/M50. 

Est. time = 22 - 42 min.

[Rat Catcher]

I ended up in a bar up above in Dublin yesterday afternoon (Abbey St. Lwr.) so had a look at the route to Heuston from there selected by both Waze and my Google Navigation SDK based app using the TAXI routing option. Waze chose the correct route i.e. around the custom house and along the south quays. The Google based app didn't and didn't even identify that route as an option so that seems to clarify why we don't get taxi appropriate directions from any of the rideshare platforms built using the Google Navigation SDK i.e. for whatever reason Google haven't (yet) shared the relevant routing data from it's Waze platform with it's Google Maps platform, at least as far as Ireland is concerned. Maybe one to keep an eye on going forward.

I agree that Waze isn't a great interface for safe driving, MfH. It's extremely needy and highly distractive with seemingly constant interactions for updates on everything from a bin bag on the road to the price of gas. I haven't had much of a look through the settings so there may be a way to turn all that nonsense off but really it shouldn't be there and, arguably, ought to be examined by RSA.  However, I find it less intrusive on the car screen particularly with the rideshare platform's directions on the phone screen... you just need to press the rideshare platform's overlay button to bring that back after it starts the Waze navigation... which you have to do to enter the fare when the job is completed anyway.

I've also noticed Uber asking if traffic is still heavy on occasion. With the fucking technology they (and Waze and Google) have surely they can deduce that from how long it takes you to get from one point to another.

That job was charged at the maximum rate permitted by law as calculated by the taximeter, Watty. Excluding gratuity it was €28.80, 2 Pax, 11 Kilos, 32 Min. Pfff... the last 32 min job I done was an Uber from Stamullen to DAP which was also charged at the maximum rate permitted by law as calculated by the taximeter €72.20 (1 Pax)... all fares before commission.

[Rat Catcher]

Actually, that Stamullen job was 25 mins 23 Secs... not 32 mins... dunno why I thought it was 32 mins... but I guess it still demonstrates how little the meter values time spent in heavy traffic in the big cities. Also, the 4 min run in shown on Bolt's offer screen for the Dublin city job was actually 6.5 mins in the real world which seems to be a regular occurrence with Bolt in particular. I think the run in on the Stamullen job was 7 mins, maybe that's why I had 32 mins in my head.... so the total time on each job would be 38.5 mins for the Dublin €28.80 job and 32.5 mins for the Stamullen €72.20 job.... the mind boggles!