Google maps Vs Taxi driver.

[Rat Catcher]

Someone on here once said; "Google maps should be compulsory fer Taxi drivers".

If that were the case and clients believed Google maps (who love the motorways)
over the expertise of the Taxi driver, then our income would be up about 10% per annum !

... and clients would still get where they are going, generally faster.

What's notable in the mytaxi implementation of Google Navigation is that she never tells you to make a U Turn, sometimes directing you several miles out of your way to avoid the same. I wonder if that's merely down to poor implementation on mytaxi's part or if it's the only option within the API. The latter would suggest that autonomous vehicles that rely on Google Navigation APIs won't risk U Turns until us gobsh!tes teach them how to do so safely.

[Belker]

The No U-turns on the MyTaxi google maps really pisses me off.
It is after catching me out a good few times, just last weekend a job popped up fer Sunview terrace (1.2 km),
I knew that Sunview terrace was 50 meters behind me but the map was telling me to go forward and loop
around through a few housing estates to get there.
The Garmin Sat-nav allows U-turns, so should the flippin the all great Google.

[Dr. Martin Gooter Bling]

why don't you just disregard what its showing you and just take the u-turn?
i know in google maps that if you deviate from the suggested blue line it will auto correct a new optimum route on the fly to your destination.

[Belker]

On the above occasion I obviousely did do a U-turn to get the 50 meters to my fare.
But sometimes the address comes up as 'N 20' or similar and you have no option
but only to follow the Blue line.

The 'Blue line' really should be Yellow and then we like 'Dorothy' could follow it !

[Rat Catcher]

Of course we make U Turns in practice, the question being why it isn't programmed to facilitate the same. It does have an adverse side effect insofar as it computes highly inaccurate ETAs which are transmitted to the client. As Korky previously noted, you could pull off a rank for a job only to find the client cancels before you get a chance to make a U Turn because he's told you're 14 minutes away when, in fact, once you make the U turn you are 2 minutes and 20 seconds away.

[Firewall]

Google maps doesn't recognise taxis can use buslanes, or that taxis can make certain left or right turns or certain streets. Its built for the general public.

[Rat Catcher]

Bus lanes are irrelevant at night. Not recognising access to various streets does cause issues with ETAs given to mytaxi clients up above in Dublin. For example, I accepted a job from the Gate Theatre to Santry one evening. When I drove on to Frederick Street North the ETA changed from 3 minutes to 12 minutes or something like that and the client (understandably) cancelled.

[Belker]

I nearly got caught with that again last night, I accepted a job fer The Burroughs which I knew was 200 yards behind me up on the top of Maryboro hill, it said 2.2KM and 7 mins to get there, I pulled a U-turn and it changed to 2 mins, thankfully the customer didn't cancel.

Can MyTaxi do something about Google maps ?
It's FOOKIN TERRIBLE !

[mercenary for hire]

I think someone already said it but U turns are some of the most dangerous moves to complete on the road.It's not unusual in Dublin city for cyclists to be overtaking on the outside.Used to be motorcycles.They won't encourage us to take them.

[Rat Catcher]

If you use Google Navigation through it's own interface you can decide whether you want to avoid U Turns or not via settings. Hence either mytaxi has programmed it's API requests to avoid U Turns or there is no such option for third party (API) access. The latter would obviously suit Google in harvesting data for it's autonomous vehicle projects.

[mercenary for hire]

Bumpy...
Last Friday I got a Mytaxi job to Portmarnock from Eccles street around 5pm.As I was watching the blue route on the integrated navigation for about a minute it tried to send me up through Finglas then across the M50.Had I taken that route it would have put maybe 15 or 20 euros on the fare.Anyone else notice these strange blue lines?

As soon as I hit Drumcondra it chose a more reasonable route.Could easily end up in court over something like that.

[Jack Meoff]

It’s fairly sad that ye have to follow the blue line to a job.

[Rat Catcher]

I love the in-app navigation on mytaxi and Uber. You don't need to look at the screen at all, voice directions with no need to press any buttons, it doesn't get any easier than that. Be Jaysus, I remember the days where you could be driving around in the pitch black having been told no more than it's 26 yards past lamppost number 304... the kids of today don't know they're born, the way it's going the cars will be driving themselves before too long.

[mercenary for hire]

I don't use a blue line but it's considered to be the optimal route by passengers and drivers worldwide.Could get  a bloke in trouble.

[vandriver]

There was a mytaxi prebooking of Firhouse to town a couple of weeks ago at 40 kilometres!
The best route was M50 to M1 and into town that way.
I'm not sure the punter would appreciate the fare though!