Fastest vs Shortest route

I find this really matters when the traffic is heavy and I have lots of stop and go. If I am going to stop a go all the time I may as well take the shortest route.

This also applies when traveling through very built up areas. When the GPS selects Fastest route, sometimes you never really make up the time because you are still stopping and starting all the time.

Over long distance Fastest route is the best.

I think the basic questions would be:

How far are you traveling and thru what "environment".

A multitude of street lights on the shortest route would
be a "gas mileage killer"

On a normal 45-55 minute drive to St. Augustine.

If I take the "shortest route" from my house to St. Augustine, FL
on roads where Speed limits are 45-55 mph and very few lights
I get 32-33 mpg.

If I go out to I-95 and up to St. Augustine it's 10 minutes faster
but my mileage goes down to about 30mpg because I am driving
thru about 10 miles of multiple lights to get to I-95 at both ends.
Speed limit on I-95 in that area is 65-70mph.

Every driving "environment" is different.

Shortest route is resolved based entirely on distance, but it may guide you through a lot of stoplights, low-speed limit streets, and stop-n-go's, which kill fuel efficiency.

Fastest route should give you the best overall fuel economy under most conditions.

Krieger.

Fastest route will always be the best option for overall result, without local traffic condition input. You would not like shortest route, at least in 99% of the time...

Jeff

Also if you use the shortest route you going to find yourself going thru gated communities, housing areas etc. that has happened to me several times, i dont like the shortest route.

Although I agree fastest usually gives the most efficient route for speed and efficiency, I tend to enjoy shortest route when travelling between cities as it usually chooses nice scenic country roads instead of the major freeways.

Yes, that can happen.

OTOH, if you are in the middle of a medium to large metro area, need to go only 1-3 miles AND the nearest freeway is a mile or more away, you can end up with some very in-efficient routes if you select "fastest".

Like most other routing "problems" with a GPS, this can be mostly eliminated if you actually THINK just a tiny bit about what it is you are about to do.

I find that fastest is usually the best but I always try to zoom out and scan the route for short trips. If you do that, most of the "weird" routes are fairly obvioius.

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Like most other routing "problems" with a GPS, this can be mostly eliminated if you actually THINK just a tiny bit about what it is you are about to do.
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Agree'd!
And with that, I'll go so far as to make an open suggestion to Garmin.
Put the Routing settings in a 'one touch' when making these decisions rather than burying it off the root screen's settings icon.
To quickly choose between different resulting calcutions easily without having to back out to the settings all the time would be a fantastic improvement!

I feel in the rural routes or country traveling, yes there is not a big difference, but in city/highway traffic, every penny counts.

I vote fastest.

It favors highways, where your mpg is better (traffic notwithstanding)

In traffic all bets are off, and shortest may be better...

accidental double post...