A ex-Google Maps researcher has revealed why the app doesn’t offer “most scenic” routes, despite it being one of the more requested features by users.
Kasey Klimes, a senior UX researcher at Google Maps from 2017 to 2021 per his website, shared on X that the app doesn’t offer scenic routes because it would discriminate against “low-income streets.”
His lengthy explanation began in response to a user who said, “Google maps needs a feature for the nicest way instead of the fastest.”
Klimes said the requested feature was “technically feasible,” then shared that the app’s algorithm “selects the fastest route between your location and your destination,” dubbing it “basically objective.”
“Any shift towards ‘nice’ or ‘scenic’ routes is going to take some new subset of variables into account; beautiful architecture, street trees, etc.”
“This naturally introduces bias to the system,” he added.
Klimes then posted a side by side of two streets, asking users to decide which one was more “scenic.”
In his next post he challenged users to ask themselves, “which of those streets is likely the higher income community?”
Klimes provided an example, arguing “that low-income communities in the US have 41% fewer trees than high-income communities,” citing his past profession as a city planner.
Next he extrapolated the example to a global scale, stating, “this pattern generalizes to nearly every city around the world,” along with a link to the National Library of Medicine.
“You see where this is going,” the former researcher for Google Maps continued. “Because of its global scale, even a small shift in maps routing from a seemingly-innocuous (and frankly very useful!) feature could create a reinforcing feedback loop with spatial inequality.”
“Inadvertently diverting foot traffic from low-income streets to high-income streets takes revenue and potentially tax dollars from already struggling communities and funnels it instead to richer communities,” he explained.
Mentava Reading Founder Niels Hoven simplified Klimes lengthy post by summarizing, “TIL the reason Google Maps doesn’t have a ‘most scenic’ walking route option is is force people to walk through low-income communities.”
In a subsequent post Hoven shared screenshots of now-deleted posts from Kilmes’s original thread.
NEO CEO Ali Partovi echoed Hoven’s simple summary, writing, “If you’ve wondered why Google Maps doesn’t offer ‘most scenic walking route’ (a top user request), apparently it’s because they want to help fix income inequality by sending you through low-income neighborhoods.”
One user replied, “Reminds me of how Uber will punish drivers who consistently avoid low-income areas because of safety risks.”
“Although I think there are various laws that may force Uber’s hand there,” they added, referring to an old controversy surrounding the popular ride sharing app where drivers were skipping out on gigs with destinations to low-income neighborhoods.
Partovi mocked the Google Maps feature in another post also.
“Lol — While you’re at it, why not also randomize Google Search results in the name of equality?” he said, to which Kilmes responded, “It’s been some years since I worked there but last I checked maps doesn’t take you to a random destination.”
The post Google Maps Doesn’t Offer ‘Most Scenic’ Walking Routes Because it Would Discriminate Against ‘Low-Income Streets,’ Says Former Researcher appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Jordyn M.
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