Arrival Estimate

 

How does the Nuvi compute arrival time? Does it take into account the speed limits on the roads taken? I know is ALWAYS comes out correct when you do arrive, btw.

Guess at Arrival Estimate--

Rate x Travel Time = distance
Distance / Rate = Travel Time
Travel Time + Current Time = Arrival Time

I'm sure there's a little allowance for things such as stop signs and traffic lights, but not much.

If you hit alot of traffic lights or sit in traffic, you'll see the arrival time changes.

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Fletch- Nuvi 750

It figures speeds based on

It figures speeds based on the type of road the route is planned over. I've found that it's quite accurate as long as traffic moves at near the posted speed limits. It updates continually if you are driving either above or below the speed that is programmed for that road. For most highway and freeway driving it is very close.

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Rick - Nüvi 260 - eTrex Summit HC

Funny Thing

Funny thing is it even calculates the walking time while in the "pedestrian" mode. surprised

Definitely the GPS will

Definitely the GPS will always have the correct estimated time of arrival once you reach your destination.

It always comes out correct,

It always comes out correct, because it updates as you drive. If you take the *original* time it posts, then it's not always correct. It's pretty optimistic, though, if you hit any traffic or long lights you'll miss by a lot.

I find it interesting to watch the time change when it recalculates. On a short trip it might tick up or down a minute or two.

It's also interesting to realize that even if you drive fast, it's nearly impossible to "make up" time. You have to drive REALLY fast...

making up time

saxmaniac wrote:

It's also interesting to realize that even if you drive fast, it's nearly impossible to "make up" time. You have to drive REALLY fast...

I found on a recent long distance trip I was able to shave 15 minutes off the original arrival time. I stopped for gas and it put the time back on. I was able to shave that time back off prior to the arrival and I was doing the speedlimit all the way.

But.....

saxmaniac wrote:

It always comes out correct, because it updates as you drive. If you take the *original* time it posts, then it's not always correct. It's pretty optimistic, though, if you hit any traffic or long lights you'll miss by a lot.

I find it interesting to watch the time change when it recalculates. On a short trip it might tick up or down a minute or two.

It's also interesting to realize that even if you drive fast, it's nearly impossible to "make up" time. You have to drive REALLY fast...

On two 2200 mile trips, one to Florida in January and one back from there to Colorado in May, driving different different routes, the estimate at the start of a 10 - 11 hour drive was essentially dead on. Granted that it pushed out when we stopped for gas and lunch, but it only updated by the exact time that we were stopped for. Accounting for those stops, the arrival time was within 5 minutes of the original ETA at the start of the day. That is figured cruising at about 3 mph over the posted limits on most roads. That seemed to just about make up for the construction slowdowns that are inevitable when freeway driving anywhere in the country.

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Rick - Nüvi 260 - eTrex Summit HC

I Agree

The arrival estimates are very close to actual if there's no traffic. The GPS always does a better job than I can. If someone wants to know when I'm going to get there, I just give them the GPS arrival time.

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Tom