By John Challen

It’s not a new phenomenon for people to want to get to their destination in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Before, the people best placed to help make that happen were black cab drivers, or those who had an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of an area.

Now, however, there are no shortage of apps that can do the job for you. But are they as effective as they claim to be, or do they just lead to more problems?

“These apps can make motor traffic more unpredictable on some of those streets that were maybe historically quieter streets, which can be a problem for people walking or cycling if you’re used to expecting a street to be quiet,” says Dr Rachel Aldred.
“However, on the plus side, it does mean that if traffic management measures are introduced and drivers are using route-planning apps, if they are updated with new information, it can be quite quickly conveyed to people that they can’t go a certain way and need to go another way.”

This reliance on technology for the ‘best’ route could have an impact on traffic networks in the future, believes Aldred.

“For people travelling a route that is unfamiliar to them, many would use a route-planning app and simply follow it. Transport authorities need to think about the implications of this and the fact that, for instance, school street measures, which restrict people’s ability to drive down streets near schools, may be an appropriate response to those kinds of problems,” she reasons.

And indeed, motorways are not immune from route-finding apps potentially causing issues. In a recent M25 closure, for example, drivers were urged to follow official diversions rather than sat-navs.

Aldred believes there is room for improvement, including more options regarding routes. “I drive very infrequently but, if I were to hire a car, I would be relying on the route-planning apps because I wouldn’t have any familiar journeys,” she says. “I have found that when I’ve done this, I’ve been sent down a quiet side road that apparently will cut a very small amount off the journey time. But, personally, I would rather have the ability to set parameters and avoid those types of streets. I would also avoid the roads with schools on.” 

Getting on your bike

“Google’s planner for cyclists gives you different options, but it tends to be a route with perhaps more cycling infrastructure, so you can make those choices,” she adds. “But it’s limited, anything where we put the responsibility on the individual is going to be limited, but it would at least be a stopgap for people to have those choices.”

More live data could be a gamechanger, states Aldred. “Google is quite useful in terms of research because it provides live estimates of journey times on specific routes, which can be quite helpful for some of the work that we’re doing,” she explains. “One of the gaps is the fact that route planning for pedestrians and cyclists doesn’t rely on live data in the same way. And so you don’t have that same level of data.

“If you want to look at car journeys, there are live datasets, but cycling journeys are affected by traffic management changes, too. And you don’t have that data in the same way. You have estimates of how long it’ll take you to cycle from point A to point B, but that’s not based on how long it will take you at that specific moment, based on the traffic conditions.”

Newsletter image: Phone navigation showing route at night in London; credit: Shutterstock