GPS Fastest or Shortest and WHY
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,614
Likes: 27
From: Toms River, NJ
GPS Fastest or Shortest and WHY
I have a Garmin, mid priced.... not the 550 or 650 but not sure of the model number now. Out for a ride the other day and it was taking me a strange way... not wrong but not the best way.
For riding which is the BEST setting for getting there fast and DIRECT.
Be Safe, JIM
For riding which is the BEST setting for getting there fast and DIRECT.
Be Safe, JIM
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 14,744
Likes: 402
From: Phoenix '53, '88, '09 Big Twins
most gps will have preference settings such as
avoid tolls
avoid highways
cheapest ( mpg)
shortest
fastest
etc.
some which are connected to the web may route you around congestion, construction or accidents
mike
avoid tolls
avoid highways
cheapest ( mpg)
shortest
fastest
etc.
some which are connected to the web may route you around congestion, construction or accidents
mike
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 6,073
Likes: 1,951
From: Somewhere on the Bourbon trail
Many Garmin GPS have a 'simulate route' feature from your current location. You may need to enable this in the settings. This will run through the route as if you were actually riding it.
Try using that using the other options mkguitar has mentioned to see which roads it uses.
Try using that using the other options mkguitar has mentioned to see which roads it uses.
Be sure of your route! If an old road happens to slip through the elimination files it can lead you out into the back lands before you know it. This mostly happens when you have the GPS set to shortest route.
Sometimes states will change a road to a freeway & still leave portions of a by-passed highway usable for local traffic & still may be marked as the original highway. Ending in a field or a dirt road to nowhere....
Shortest distance between two points isn't always the best.
Sometimes states will change a road to a freeway & still leave portions of a by-passed highway usable for local traffic & still may be marked as the original highway. Ending in a field or a dirt road to nowhere....
Shortest distance between two points isn't always the best.
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,648
Likes: 37
From: Monroe, Louisiana
I have found on the shortest setting it will route you the shortest route. Lot of times it will take you through some backroads and it doesn't care or know what the condition is. I have on a couple of occasions had mine try to route down roads that are closed. On quickest it is much more likely to be a know route. Most of the time it will use bypasses as going through towns straight through will net you lots of red lights. First time you don't playback or simulate the route it will bite you or at least it does me.
HDF Community Team
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 6,186
Likes: 2,412
From: USA
Fastest route is the route the Garmin thinks will get you from point A to point B in the last amount of time.
Shortest route is the route the Garmin things will be the least miles from point A to point B.
Fastest will usually focus on interstates and other high-speed roadways. Shortest will utilize dirt road and occasionally even through-property driveways.
Shortest route is the route the Garmin things will be the least miles from point A to point B.
Fastest will usually focus on interstates and other high-speed roadways. Shortest will utilize dirt road and occasionally even through-property driveways.
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 64
Likes: 1
From: Illinois
Set it on the fastest. Otherwise your gps will take you on some nasty back roads. It may be the least # of miles but may take way longer to get there.
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Tourer
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 361
Likes: 1
From: Wisconsin
Fastest does not calculate every possible route. It stays on the same road as long as it makes sense. It looks for a road that goes cross country and does a quick calculation. If it thinks it's less than a minute difference, it will pick the cross country road. What Garmin does NOT know is stop lights and road conditions. If that cross road has a light every block, it will NOT be the fastest.
When I am in a place I do not know, I never trust fastest to really be the fastest. I use my head and think about the road it is telling me to take.
My favorite example is going south out of Wi into Il. On 94 it tells me to take 41. 41 is a 4 lane road, but it it also has lights every where. I stay on 94. It keeps trying to push me back to 41 for a while. Same coming back north. It wants me to get off and take 41 north again. I stay on 94. It is much faster. It is a bit more miles, but it is faster with no lights to wait for.
When I am in a place I do not know, I never trust fastest to really be the fastest. I use my head and think about the road it is telling me to take.
My favorite example is going south out of Wi into Il. On 94 it tells me to take 41. 41 is a 4 lane road, but it it also has lights every where. I stay on 94. It keeps trying to push me back to 41 for a while. Same coming back north. It wants me to get off and take 41 north again. I stay on 94. It is much faster. It is a bit more miles, but it is faster with no lights to wait for.
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MODERATOR
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,108
Likes: 1,964
From: New England
I once road with a guy that worked for a mapping company and he just drove roads, hit a key on his keyboard once in a while, and then downloaded everything each day.
We road past a just-built section of road that wasn't open yet but was going to be in a few days. If the guy out mapping the roads doesn't go back when the new road is open, the route your GPS gives you won't use that new road thus routing you "in a strange way.."
One just needs to understand how maps are developed and the algorithms used to build a route to use a GPS effectively.
I set the Garmin in my truck to Fastest... it also has traffic, so if there is bad congestion (I live outside of San Antonio) it will take me a different route.
I use it every day to and from work, I have a 65 mile-one-way commute.
I use it every day to and from work, I have a 65 mile-one-way commute.
