Representative image showing Bengaluru traffic.
Credit: DH photo
Mumbai-based investor Ashish Kacholia posted on X about how he missed his flight due to a miscalculation by Google Maps on August 30. Netizens were quick to share their own experiences.
Kacholia missed his flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai because the time taken to the airport was 1 hour 15 minutes more than what the web service predicted.
Metrolife asked Bengalureans about their own experiences. Here is what we found.
Missed events
Horamavu resident Janaki Rameshan almost missed her best friend’s wedding in March. “My fiance and I drove from Bull Temple in Basavanagudi to Iskcon in Rajajinagar. It showed 45 minutes with traffic, but we only reached 1 hour 40 minutes later,” she recalls.
Sundari P, a 30-year-old IT professional, was late to her birthday celebrations by almost two hours in July. She was driving from Subbaiahnapalya to a pub in J P Nagar 1st Phase and the app predicted the journey would take 45 minutes. However, she reached the location 2 hours 20 minutes later. “Most of my friends had other commitments and had to leave by the time I reached,” she says.
Late to work
Richards Town resident Tamara Hendricks travels to the Silk Board area for work every day. “Most autorickshaws follow Google Maps and navigate through narrow and longer routes, leading to delays. There have been multiple times when I have had to join meetings online,” she adds. The marketing professional often walks from the service road near Silk Board flyover to Munneshwara Nagar to save 20 minutes.
A content marketer travels from
K R Puram to Sarjapur often, a ride that ideally takes 40-45 minutes. “Google Maps always directs people via the ORR, which can take up to 75 minutes. There is a shorter route through Yemalur, but if you aren’t aware of it, ORR is the only option,” she adds.
Jammed roads
Communications professional Sreeja Sreedharan says the platform often suggests routes that are narrow or congested with parked vehicles. “Once I was headed from Hennur to Koramangala. I followed maps hoping to find a quicker route, and got stuck in L B Shastri Nagar. Worse, I ended up causing a traffic jam as my car couldn’t pass through easily,” she recollects. Sreeja reached Koramangala two hours later, while the time shown on the application was 58 minutes.
Travel dilemmas
Akash Mathew (name changed), a 31-year-old IT professional, missed his flight to Delhi in August. “I was supposed to reach my house in Indiranagar from Sarjapur by noon and head to the airport. But Google Maps delayed me by almost 90 minutes. My flight was at 3.30 pm. I ended up booking another flight,” he says.
Basavanagudi resident Neha Jain and her husband were driving to Ooty recently and reached three hours later than the scheduled time. “There were shorter routes but the app picked a longer option. After a point it was bumpy and difficult to drive on. Our car got stuck and the locals helped us. They directed us to a route that the maps didn’t show, after which we reached our destination safely,” adds the choreographer.