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Google Maps wish list
I really like Google Maps. It gives me clear images that help me
understand complicated intersections before I get there, and unlike
MapQuest, its trip planner has never steered me wrong. Its ability to
show me stuff (hotels, synagogues, etc) near a particular location is
very useful. It shows which streets are one-way, which is very helpful
for navigating unfamiliar city areas. The hybrid view is nifty and even
helpful.
I hope they're continuing to work on this. There are lots of features that would make it even better for me (and I hope others, but this post is all about me :-) ). Some that I've thought of in the last week:
- Traffic signals would be a helpful addition for city driving, if the data is available. I'd rather know that the left turn onto a busy street will be aided by a traffic light before I commit to it. Otherwise, I might choose a different route. I'm a cautious driver in poor-visibility situations.
- Speaking of traffic, it'd be really cool if it knew about normal congestion points. For instance, if I say I'm driving to Boston leaving Pittsburgh at such-and-such a time, an advisory saying "that has you driving through Hartford at their rush hour" would be nifty (and might be something that wouldn't occur to me as a factor). Even better if it can say "PA turnpike on Thanksgiving weekend; are you crazy?", but that's a different class of information.
- An overlay for known construction work along a planned route.
- The ability to give parameters to the trip planner, such as "via $road". The trip planner will give me the most direct route; I'd like a way to say "yeah I know, but I don't want to go on $road" or "I want to go by way of $road". The only way to do this now is to look at the map and figure out how to subdivide into multiple trips. (You might ask why I want the trip planner to tell me what I already know, in this case that I can take 70 to 68 to 79. I only wanted the trip length.) MapQuest used to have an "avoid highways" option that was sometimes useful for "regional" driving (e.g. Squirrel Hill to Monroeville not using the parkway), but that's still limited.
- For longer trips or trips through mountains, wouldn't it be cool if I could say "leave $city at $time on $day" and it showed me projected weather along the route, highlighting ice hazards and projected precipitation? ("Hey, are you sure you want to drive through the projected path of Hurricane Hugo?") Rarely helpful but nifty...
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A little different, but...
You can get KML/KMZ RIDGE overlays for GIS software from NWS at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge/kmzgenerator.php
In English: use the above URL to get a radar or satellite weather overlay for your area that can be used with Google Earth. The overlay runs less than a minute behind the actual weather, and you can use it to see whether that big storm cloud will pass over your house (or route) or just nearby.
Re: A little different, but...
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The worst of the bunch is Yahoo! Maps, which I've had tell me to turn left when I was supposed to turn right and vice-versa.
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I'd be happy just knowing if an upcoming exit was on the left...
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Yeah, that would sure be nice! Especially on roads that are three or four lanes wide (in each direction).
Sometimes, but not always, you can puzzle it out from the map. Here's a map of one local bit of minor spaghetti; each yellow (not orange) section is really two lanes. And because I was there anyway, here is one entrance ramp (and surrounding mess) I often complain about; I don't know if, if you overlay the satellite image, you can make out the stop sign at the end of the east-bound entrance ramp onto 376.
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Yes. And MOST especially if those lanes are so congested (I'm looking at YOU, Capitol Beltway) that if you're not in the correct lane by the time you see the sign, it's too late to get there. Bah.
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While that's technically true for me as well, it has sometimes confused the *bejeezus* out of me. It's choice of road name is often whimsical, and that can be a problem here in a state where roads frequently have multiple names. (No, that route does *not* imply making three turns -- those three roads are all simply going straight down Route 9.)
I suspect that the traffic lights, construction, and so on will eventually be added via mashups. Google seems to be viewing Maps as a platform as much as anything -- they're encouraging people to mash it together with other data sources.
As for giving parameters to the route planner: word. The single feature I find most annoyingly lacking in all route-planning software today. The best ones provide overly coarse-grained controls; most don't have any.