Travel Time Estimator

[ultimatebob]

So, I've been throwing around this idea of a travel time estimator that takes the travel estimate that Google Maps gives you and adds all of the things that Google doesn't take into account like gas stops and bathroom breaks. It seems to give a more realistic estimate of how long it will take you to get some where on a long car trip.

So, I did this Google Sheets spreadsheet. I'm hoping that someone with more Android or iOS development experience than me will turn it into an app some day. Anyway, let me know what you think:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gNk1zl4BaCsBgYneT9A1YLckKEM7fDbaqdsxnXcv0xc/edit?usp=sharing

 

[ctbaars]

Cute but too complicated for me.
My cars Nav Sys tells me what time I will arrive. Works great. I know the time added for stops only after I made the stop and the car does adjust after a stop.

 

[SKORPI0]

https://www.timeanddate.com/time/travel.html
http://www.travelmath.com/driving-time/
http://www.free-online-calculator-use.com/drive-time-calculator.html
http://whendoileave.com/

 

[Murloc]

I don't think you can estimate that without the user inputting all the data (e.g. today I'm going to be carrying a dog who's shy with their needs).
And if you have to do that every time, you'll just stop using the app and do the calculation mentally. You always need to have some leeway for traffic, parking and stuff anyway.

 

[ultimatebob]

https://www.timeanddate.com/time/travel.html
http://www.travelmath.com/driving-time/
http://www.free-online-calculator-use.com/drive-time-calculator.html
http://whendoileave.com/

The only one of those that does something similar to my spreadsheet is the free-online-calculator site. And what they have for breaks is more simplistic what what I did.

If someone did an app, they could probably have a user profile where the you enter the car you have and it would automatically figure out when you needed to stop for gas.

 

[cbrunny]

in car apps will do some of this stuff eventually some day. I'm guessing we aren't too far away from a car telling you specifically which gas station to fill up at, and what time that will be at while on road trips.

 

[clamum]

I would actually be interested in working on an app with you on this but unfortunately I already have a project for a small company that I'm working on and I shouldn't take on anything more. Ugh... I really wish I wouldn't have said "Ok I'll do it" to this project but I can't really back out now. Anyway, seems like a cool idea, hope you find some help!

 

[Murloc]

in car apps will do some of this stuff eventually some day. I'm guessing we aren't too far away from a car telling you specifically which gas station to fill up at, and what time that will be at while on road trips.

yeah and that would work until you take a trip to somewhere in France and the fuel station strike has begun when the next stop is supposed to be.
And you can forget about information systems being up-to-date about this, TMC sucks at telling you where traffic really is already due to slowness of information upgrading.
Sure, someone could come up with an app that links to some government website where strikes are published, but almost noboy has an internet subscription for their car due to cost.

 

[ultimatebob]

I would actually be interested in working on an app with you on this but unfortunately I already have a project for a small company that I'm working on and I shouldn't take on anything more. Ugh... I really wish I wouldn't have said "Ok I'll do it" to this project but I can't really back out now. Anyway, seems like a cool idea, hope you find some help!

I'm more of a sysadmin than an app developer, but I figured that I'd throw the idea out there in the hopes that someone runs with it. Just don't forget to put my name in the credits

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

This is where estimates come into play. After many cross country trips, 50 miles an hour works pretty well. For around town, it's much simpler to allow your self an hour to get where you're going. There is no advantage to shaving the time any closer. In short, programming it is a waste of time and effort.

 

[twinrider1]

Seems like the sort of thing a driver would just add in his head based on his experience. Alone, 500 mile trip...add 30 minutes. Have the wife and kids, 500 miles...add 120 minutes.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Neat idea. I always figure about 1 hour per 100km give or take.