How far is the same as far?

[skatchkins]

As I was drifting off to sleep I wondered if something existed that showed something like a destination radius (as the car drives not as the crow flies) of comparable distances. It amazes me that some places I drive out to are actually farther than my Plan B place that I thought initially was too far to drive out to. I checked the interweb and something like that does exist: https://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-can-i-travel.htm

3hr sample

I had never heard of it but I thought it was useful in the case of where could I make it out to if I only wanted to drive X amount of hours. It was interesting to see my radius of "short-medium" distance destinations get larger than I thought. Now I could pick a place I've been that I thought was worth the drive and see that else could be planned similarly.

Anyway. It helps me think of things that way.

[chumley]

That map seems to think that getting to the Galiuros or Santa Teresas is in the same ballpark as driving to Flagstaff. I don't think so!

But Sierra Vista should be well-within that circle, and it isn't!

[skatchkins]

Di you use speed/time or miles distance?

Flag is 2hrs from me and shows up that way while Teresas and SV are at least 3hrs from me and check out well outside that radius.

I used 2hrs at only 60mph here:

It does look like it uses a constant speed, so closer off freeway (or set speed) locations will be more accurate.

[chumley]

Oh I see. The circle is the distance from your starting point at the speed specified as the crow flies. That's obviously not relevant as roads don't go straight. So it calculates the road distance at that speed and tries to draw a new "circle".

It's sort of useful, but it's still based on the average speed you enter. It would really only be useful if it used Google Maps' algorithms for speeds on different roads. The googs isn't always perfect, but it does a reasonable job at determining the speed you can drive on various roads.

The result would look much more like a spider web or 50-pointed starfish or something based on highways, paved roads, etc.

I can make it to California in 2 hours on I-10, but it's also 2 hours to Table Top or many other desert locales much closer. Or six hours to Albuquerque, but also about 6 hours to Hannagan Meadow, which is only half the distance as the crow flies.

This would be cooler if the map was drawn based on driving speeds on the mapped roads you need to drive to get there.

[nonot]

I can make it to California in 2 hours on I-10.

Chumley speed!

[chumley]

@nonot
It's only 149 miles from Sky Harbor to the Colorado River on I-10. To do it in 2 hours you have to average 75mph. The stuff this side of Buckeye is a little slower, but it's not rocket science to maintain a steady (and still pretty reasonable) 82-83mph on the west side (the speed limit is 75). Coming back from California, I know when I hit the river it's under 2:05 to my house unless there's traffic in the metro.

You don't even really need to drive a speed that risks a ticket.