Google Maps passenger ETA

This year I’ve driven up and down the California coast 3 separate times. Twice for tours and shows, and once more recently to visit my extended family in NorCal. One thing I’ve learned through taking multiple trips is that your ETA can fluctuate wildly based on two things: traffic and the specific needs of your passengers.

Some passengers have weak bladders. On tour, some passengers need a smoke break. Other passengers want to stop for snacks (thankfully on tour we take very few stops so this is less of a problem, but still).

After a particularly painful 8-and-a-half-hour drive yesterday I wondered… what if Google Maps shows the needs of your passengers and how that might impact your ETA? It might seem like a leap in terms of the data necessary to provide a thoughtful estimate, but if you had a few trips under your belt as training data it seems feasible.

At that point, you’d hope you know your fellow travelers well enough to make the prediction yourself. It would be an entertaining feature at the very least.

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