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In supported regions, Google Maps will tell me how long it will take to drive from A to B in current traffic conditions. It can also colour-code roads according to traffic conditions for a specific date and time of the week. However, is it possible to estimate driving time for a specific date and time of the week?

(For a (long) weekend trip, I'm estimating whether it's worth to take the train from Toronto to Barrie and rent a car from there, as opposed to renting a car from Toronto)

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gerrit
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4 Answers4

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Yes!

Google maps recently added the possibility of doing exactly this! I noticed it for the first time today. When you query the route for a specific destination a new option shows up above the possible routes which allows you to choose to depart at a particular time or arrive at a particular time. In the later case it suggests the time that you should leave. The length of the drive is given as a range of times which can, admittedly, be pretty broad. I have asked the communnity how this range of drive times is defined, but it has not received an answer as of yet.

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Chris Mueller
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No, not on Google Maps.

However, you CAN partially accomplish this using Waze. Waze was acquired by Google in 2013.

Use Waze's "check routes for a different time" feature allows specifying a different time, but as far as I can tell it doesn't allow specifying a specific date or even a specific day of the week.

Screenshot of Waze's "Check routes for a different time" feature, showing only a 24-hour dropdown option

Mithical
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Dan Becker
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Short answer: No.

Long answer: Google used to provide this service, but stopped apparently some time in 2011, saying it was inaccurate because it "provided users with the worst case traffic scenario based on historic traffic data." They have since added current traffic condition reporting/routing, but it doesn't predict into the future.

From this post:

The new time-in-traffic feature provides users with the ability to check current traffic conditions and estimates the length of travel time based on constantly refreshed data. (Emphasis mine)

Flimzy
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if you use https://www.google.com/maps?output=classic you can put your route in, then click traffic in the upper right. The traffic controls will show up in the lower left. Then you can change from live traffic to 'Traffic at day and time:'

I am not sure if it actually affects the time but it does at least show you the predicted traffic for that day of the week at that time.

George
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