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Google Transportation

Google Maps Crunches Data, Tells You When To Drive On Thanksgiving 62

Posted by timothy from the could-have-told-you-that-for-free dept.
Nerval's Lobster writes Whatever your plans for Thanksgiving, Google can offer some advice: try to avoid driving anywhere the day before. Analysts from the search-engine giant's Google Maps division crunched traffic data from 21 U.S. cities over the past two years and found that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is by far the worst traffic day that week, with some notable exceptions. (In Honolulu, Providence, and San Francisco, the worst traffic is always on Saturday; in Boston, it's Tuesday.) Unfortunately, Wednesday is often the only available travel day for many Americans—but Google thinks they can beat the worst of the traffic if they leave before 2 P.M. or after 7 P.M. on that day. Traffic on Thanksgiving itself is also light, according to the data. When it comes to driving back home, Sunday beats Saturday from a traffic perspective. According to Google Maps' aggregated trends, Americans also seek out "ham shop," "pie shop," and "liquor store" on the day before Thanksgiving, as they rush to secure last-minute items.
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Google Maps Crunches Data, Tells You When To Drive On Thanksgiving More

Google Maps Crunches Data, Tells You When To Drive On Thanksgiving

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  • Work is the problem (Score:5, Informative)

    by danbuter ( 2019760 ) on Thursday November 20, 2014 @11:48AM (#48426037)
    Most people drive the day before Thanksgiving because it's the first day of their vacation. They can't really leave on Tuesday unless they drive at night, because most people will be working that day.

  • Unfortunately, Wednesday is often the only available travel day for many Americans—but Google thinks they can beat the worst of the traffic if they leave before 2 P.M. or after 7 P.M. on that day.

    Wow, thanks. Never would have guessed that without this data analysis.

    Traffic on Thanksgiving itself is also light, according to the data.

    Another important revelation!

    • Traffic on Thanksgiving itself is also light, according to the data.

      Another important revelation!

      The data apparently hasn't heard of the Jersey Turnpike - probably because of its laser-like focus on cities.

  • I took the train up to Sacramento to visit my parents and we drove back on Thanksgiving Day to visit my brother's family in Silicon Valley. We had zero visibility fog that morning. With little traffic on the freeway, my father drove at 40MPH in the slow lane. Some idiot in the next lane over drove past at 100MPH. We didn't see him in the fog, we felt him as his passage rocked our car. A few years prior to that, Sacramento had a 100+ car pileup because someone drove that fast in the fog.
    • Zero visibility fog, huh? And your dad was going 40 mph? Sounds like your Dad and the Rocket car were both driving far faster than conditions allowed.
      • We could see the hood ornament on the car clearly, and the light beams inside the fog beyond that. If a car was in front of us, my father would have seen their running lights with enough time to slam on the brakes.

  • Why include a pointless link to dice.com? It is just a snippet of the actual posting from google (here is a direct link [blogspot.com] that will get you to the post even after the blog is updated...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by _xeno_ ( 155264 )

      It's Nerval's Lobster. He's a Dice employee who submits Dice stories to Slashdot. No, seriously, click on his user name [slashdot.org], all his activity is submitting Dice stories. You'd think Slashdot could at least mention the Dice connection, but they never have.

  • I say microwave some potatoes and Skype it up from home if traffic is bad. Then at least the dinner can't turn into a fist fight, lol.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      I cut everyone in the family who are argumentative*, gets sloppy drunk, and like to fight ut of my holidays.
      My families holidays are relaxing and stress free. Family is a two way street. If they can't respect my family and home, then I don't need to invite them over.
      Frankly, I don't understand people who put up with the crap.

      *I don't mean people I can have a civil discusses with who happen to be arguing a different POV.

  • The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is a busy travel day?!? How did that ever escape our attention? I mean, aside from every DJ on every radio station, and every traffic reporter on every TV station, telling us that every year, how could we possibly find such things out if Google didn't do the heavy lifting?

  • "Ham Shop"?

    "Ham Shop"???
    • Who needs to search for a ham shop? They have more locations than starbucks.
    • Coming from someone who thinks "pie shop" and not "bakery" I'm not surprised.

      • If you have not yet marveled at the gustatorial misgivings sold to saps and suckers with barely a regard for their lingering effects and the likelihood of robbing a customer not only of coin, but the ability to walk the next day, you should stop in at Mrs. Miggins'.

    • When I see anything Ham I have, for at least the last 20 years of having my amateur radio license think "radio gear"

  • ... in Boston, it's Tuesday.

    How would you tell?

  • When to drive? (Score:3)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Thursday November 20, 2014 @12:25PM (#48426375)

    Aggregate historical data is better than nothing; but I'd just fire up Waze.

    Google hasn't killed Waze off... yet.

  • NEWS FLASH!!!!!! There is heavy traffic the day before thanksgiving, thanksgiving day, and the day after!!!! Also expect long lines at airports,bus stations,train stations. only been that way the last 47 years of my life.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      At airports, the lines aren't longer, but they are slower. Many flights actually have fewer than average people on them during that week. Sure, more people are traveling for pleasure, but many, many fewer people are flying for business that week, so it usually evens out. The reason the line is slower, and air travel so much harder despite this, is because frequent business travelers know where they're going and what to do at the airport so they get through quickly, and rarely have children with them. Pl

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      When though? I find it interesting that it's the afternoon.
      Why wait that long to leave for a trip? I would have thought the morning would be worse.
      In the rare occasion I need to go somewhere the day before TGiv* I leave at 5-6AM Now I might sleep an extra hour.

      *You Heard Me.

      • I guess it's people who get very little time off work and/or have inflexible work schedules. They go to work on the day before the holiday then when they finish work they set off for wherever they want to spend the holiday.

    • Obviousness is not a substitute for correctness, as can be shown by the cases where the busiest travel day was NOT the day immediately before and the day immediately after.

  • ...because that's when everyone wants to travel. Telling me to travel when I don't want to travel ain't a solution.

    Hey buddy! Just ruin your holiday and you'll easily avoid the traffic!

    Why don't I just not celebrate it at all.

    Is this what we can expect from big data? Spend another day with your annoying family consuming the entire weekend, work more hours, or take half the work day off?

    Here's a better way. Stab yourself in the neck, then you can take an ambulance right through any traffic that stands in

  • "How to dispose of the corpse of an annoying relative who I just murdered"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      "How to dispose of the corpse of an annoying relative who I just murdered"

      Driving directions to the nearest pig farm or rug store?

  • I like a data-driven blog post as much as the next guy -- probably more, actually -- but where's the data? I already know that leaving Boston on Tuesday is a bad idea. Give me a graph of hourly traffic volumes on the Mass Pike, and this post would be actually useful.

  • I used to drive "home" for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Had some hair-raising, painful, and very uncomfortable experiences and only realize now that I and my immediate family are lucky to be alive.

    Since the mid-nineties, I've refused to travel on the holidays. We have Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house. This makes sense, because "Home" is not where your parents live (or used to live), it's where you have set roots and raised your own family.

    Once a year I take a trip to see relatives, (and to have som

  • ...it can't even give efficient driving directions for light traffic in the suburbs. In the city with real traffic it almost always gives "bad" (worse than you'd get from knowing the streets) directions.

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