What Google Maps doesn't know
A trip to the grocery store on a literally uncharted path
It’s a Saturday afternoon and I’m doing at least two unusual things. The first unusual thing is, not surprisingly, walking. We have already established that in America, this is an rare thing to do. In this case I am walking to the grocery store. Partially this walk is practical, I am off to pick up a few things for dinner. I have other motivations as well, like most of my walks this is a pleasure, I get to explore the world, listen to a book, and take a quiet joy in the cool fall weather.
Also, I’m trying to beat Google Maps.
According to Google Maps it will take me 1 hour and 2 minutes to walk to the grocery store. It says it is 2.7 miles, and I should spend most of my time walking along the busy Providence road, which lacks sidewalks and looks like this. No thanks.
In this case Google is wrong. The distance, of course, depends on what route you take, and since Google’s suggested route is insane, the distance is wrong. The route is wrong, because no one would take that route. A reasonable pedestrian, looking at Google Maps, would have plenty of other possible route options. Prior to today I had been using Hinkson Creek Trail and Campusview drive, which avoids Providence altogether. Today though I’m on a different path. But you won’t find it on Google Maps, because its isn’t there.
This is the second unusual thing I’m doing. Walking down a path that, according to what is surely the most common map app in the United States, does not exisit. This path does exist on other maps. Its on AllTrails, and its on Open Street Maps. Later in this walk, I will follow another path. This one through a city park, and I cannot find it on any map. Both paths are much steeper, rougher, and especially on this wet fall day, more treacherous than other paths around the city. They would not be suitable for all pedestrians. The 2nd one could probably be called a “desire path” a term for a path that is constructed not by official means, but by the shortcuts taken by actual people.
And shortcut it is. I arrive at the HyVee in forty-five minutes and 39 seconds. A massive 17 minutes faster than the time it should take according to the nation’s most popular mapping app. I’ve also had a lovely time walking through the woods on a fall day, the same sort of experence that hikers enjoy, except at the end of it I’m in a suburban shopping center with a Wendy’s and a Buffalo Wild Wings, and a HyVee, and a massive parking lot. I get a snack at the Wendy’s, feeling a bit like Chris Arnade.
In this case Google Maps was dramatically inaccurate in how long it would take to walk to the store. Google simply did not know the most efficient route to take. The only way to know the route was to go out into the world and find it. There are lots of paths that don’t appear on maps. The pedestrian world is more interconnected than it might first appear.
It could be more connected yet. Basic footpaths should be much more common then they are. A true network of pedestrian paths, separate from streets and sidewalks could offer more pleasant, more direct access to areas around your town or city. Paths could be constructed that would connect areas that currently require long roundabout detours. In many cases a couple hundred feet of path, placed strategically in a few places would provide much more efficient routing, then what is currently available.
Some of these paths exist already, you just have to go and find them.
What maps or mapping software do you use for walking?
Do you have a favorite trail that isn’t on the map?
Happy Walking!
-Chris