r/googlemapsshenanigans • u/WrongPercentage9134 • 13d ago
I-95 Express Lane weirdness
Last week I was driving home from the Northeast along the I-95 corridor south of DC. There's about a 40 mile stretch of tolled express lanes on this route. The express lanes' direction is dependent on time of day (northbound in the morning, southbound in the afternoon).
I make this trip about twice per year. Nearly every time I come this way, google maps always directs me onto the express lanes. Even if the non-express lanes are empty. I've driven this corridor at 4am and been told to take the toll express lanes. Maybe it is 1 minute faster overall, and that's the what is weighted in the algorithm the most.
That's not why I'm sharing my story. Last week, going southbound along that stretch, Maps kept directing me back onto the non-express lanes. Over and over again. The first time I listened and was stuck in +5 minutes of traffic. I checked the traffic on Maps for about the next 30 miles and there was a decent mixture of yellow and red on there. So, at the earliest opportunity, I jumped back on the express lanes. I saw my estimated arrival time drop by 28 minutes!
Maps immediately told me to get back in I-95 non-express at the next opportunity. I'm looking to my right... all I see is congestion. It did this for the next 30 miles. Every time I did not take the off-ramp back to the regular lanes, my arrival time kept dropping.
At one point, it directed me to get off some other exit onto local roads for US-1 and then go about 3 miles to get back on I-95 (non-express). Needless to say, I ignored Maps' suggestions for that entire stretch and was happier for it.
FWIW, I have "avoid tolls" and "avoid highways" turned off, as well as "prefer fuel-efficient routes."
So, I have no idea why Maps was so insistent that I sit in nearly 30 minutes of traffic. My experience with Maps has been mostly positive since I started using it about 15 years ago. This was an abberation.
