ApiaryJun 21, 2024
Google has slowly changed how it displays driving directions to limit routes to ones it thinks burn less fuel. When plugging in the drive to get to my parents it presents one option that uses a ferry. The directions treat the ferry like a bridge that you could use at any time, and it no longer presents alternate routes that use actual roads.
The ferry runs twice a day.
Show threadMarcos DioneJun 21, 2024
@Apiary I wish I could say that any of the #OpenStreetMap based apps would be a nice alternative, but I'm not sure if any takes such data in account, and I'm even less sure if such data is in OSM to begin with (open hours are, but IIRC time tables are not).
Show threadMatija Nalis
@mdione
I'm not sure that
@Apiary is requesting routing over ferry taking ferry timetables into account, it more looks to me like they dislike that #googlemaps now FORCES the ferry as the ONLY possible route taking away the alternatives.
And avoiding ferry routes is quite possible in many #OSM routers, e.g. in #OsmAnd you can choose to avoid ferries (among other things, like cobblestone roads or fords or tunnels or toll roads or low emission zones or...).
Jun 21, 2024 at 8:04pmWeb
Show threadMarcos DioneJun 21, 2024
@mnalis @Apiary agreed, but if it took the ferry's timetable, a good router should know that there would be a long wait and other options would be shorter (in time). Unless you specifically asked for the shortest path?
Show threadApiaryJun 21, 2024
@mnalis @mdione you can tell google to avoid ferries. But let’s say you aren’t me, and aren’t already familiar with this journey. You might assume that a) the ferry is the only option and b) that the ferry will be available when you get to the dock.
Show threadMarcos DioneJun 21, 2024
@Apiary @mnalis as a person working in computers, I'm really sad about the state of things. We've encroached into every aspect of life, and now people trust the outcomes of our collective delirium. We call ourselves Engineers, but our profession is very far from other Engineerings. We try to model the world, but the world is too varied, and too big, so of course we don't know or think about 'corner cases'. People trust our products because they're 'technology', but we don't deserve it.
Show threadMatija NalisJun 22, 2024

@mdione @Apiary
As the Weinberg's Law states: "If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization."

It really should be taught from elementary school about acute fragileness of our civilization dependence on ever more complex technology. Corner cases of map routing are really totally insignificant part of that. One day some tech will break beyond repair, and bring whole civilization down the drain with it. 🤷‍♂️