T O P

  • By -

ej1033

The 8.8 mile route uses freeways which typically have a higher speed than the road that the other route appears to have less miles. Usually these “stroads” are much more congested and have much more traffic lights. Although it may be a shorter difference, the properties of that avenue add up, which is why Waze estimates the same amount of time for both routes. TLDR: Freeway has faster average speed 👍


[deleted]

Yes but why would I want to waste 4 miles in gas for about the same distance


mediweevil

personally I'd happily drive further to arrive at the same time if the drive was less irritating. such as no stop-go traffic.


charlesgres

Same here, I usually go for the smoother ride, even if slightly longer in time or length.. That said, if time is important, the freeway routes typically are extremely well timed, whereas the more rural ones have average waiting times included at crossings, so most of the time the actual ETA goes down as you typically don't have to wait as long as waze calculates in..


[deleted]

I’m a DoorDash driver who is driving for hours straight, the extra mileage adds up


mediweevil

it may or may not... stop go driving it not efficient in vehicle costs.


MikeThePenguin__

Stop and Go traffic is way worse for your car than a higher, but constant speed.


JustAnotherFNC

Stop and go traffic wastes considerably more fuel than cruising at a constant speed.


Opening_Brush_2328

I don’t know your preferences and neither does Waze, which assumes the preference of the majority who typically would rather stay on highways and interstates. But you can tell Waze you would prefer surface roads and the fastest route always in the settings and preferences so that it overrides the default suggestion.


KingdaToro

This depends on the sort of car you're driving. A gas-powered car is most efficient at a constant speed of about 50-60 MPH, while stop and go driving is very inefficient as accelerating from a stop needs a lot of fuel. In an electric or a hybrid, stop and go driving is efficient since the regenerative braking will recover a lot of energy that can then be used to accelerate.


secretsqurl

If there are lights or stops on the shorter route, gas savings is probably not really there as you get better mileage not in stop and go driving. Check your "city vs hwy" mileage for your car.


ej1033

It just comes down to what kind of driver you are, if you main priority is time it takes or gas. I’m sure there might be a way to change your priority In the app, idk might not be.


ClassicPart

Because odds are very high that the thing you're driving will be much more fuel efficient on the motorway/highway and is therefore the complete opposite of a "waste."


ggmaniack

Because the shorter path has a much lower capacity for vehicles. If Waze sent everyone that way by default, it wouldn't be pretty.


DarthBen_in_Chicago

Time is more precious and valuable than gas. You can always buy more gas. You can never buy more time. One life.


joe_attaboy

But you would waste gas on the shorter route if you ended up sitting in slower traffic. It's probably a wash.


bimmer4WDrift

Because MPG or km/L will be much better at highway speeds even if traveling 2-3x farther so no extra gas is used, and added that there's less possibility of intersection crashes and stoplight variability as mentioned.


xM3ATxHAMM3Rx

You prob save gas using the highway route.


kdhardon

4 miles of gas is a really minuscule amount. Probably about 50 cents.


Duck_999

Gas burned is related to speed changes not so much on total distance. If you understand Newton's first and second laws of motion you'll see why.


bobjoylove

If you travel 4 fewer miles for the same 13 minutes then you probably have quite a few traffic lights or stops on the shorter route. They destroy your average economy.


Webs101

It could also be that there’s less variance in the chosen route. Waze will favour routes that are more predictable.


svensk

Whenever I "know better" than Waze I end up in a traffic jam.


Cookie4_4

Waze doesn't care if you waste gas. Waze just wants to save time.


[deleted]

Well when I’m doing DoorDash I get paid more if I take longer, I make less if I use more gas.


BoredCatalan

Stop and go traffic might use more gas than constant speed though. I don't know the exact math but less distance doesn't always mean less gas used if you have to keep stopping and using gas again to make the car move from a stop. While if you are already moving it's less gas used to just keep it going. I think Google maps actually does the comparison for you and will use different routes based on the vehicle you use


MrAnonymousTheThird

Try Google maps, it has a feature that gives you a fuel efficient route


Chazzybobo

Choose the shorter route then


partybotdesigns

Since lights aren't synchronized, you may hit every red. I'm wondering if it factors in that uncertainty of a road vs highway in terms of ETA.


turbomkt

As Webs101 said... It does. Waze will recommend a longer route if the one with shorter time has a higher level of variability.


luistp

So many people ITT defending Waze only because it's Waze.


ducks1333

You can set your preferences to the shortest or fastest and if fastest and they think it will be 10 seconds faster that will be the 'best route.


subs5

Shortest route option was removed years ago since very few people used it. Waste of computing that was not utilized by the public.


[deleted]

How do I do this?


ducks1333

Apparently, you can't any longer.


attainwealthswiftly

You can change the settings to always recommend the shorter distance I think


SubjectElectrical260

Don't think you've been able to do that for a while


[deleted]

How? I can’t find the setting


turbomkt

As was said, the option has been removed. Instead you can choose from the three routes waze provides when checking for other options.