Plan for a break in a route

[fvdm]

Is there a way to add a planned break time into a route? Say, for instance, I want to plan a 30-minute lunchtime at a viewpoint. That way that 30 minutes gets added to the total travel time for the route.

Tx 

[Danie Kotze]

Afternoon,

Yes, for each waypoint in your route you can set the time you want to arrive, leave or lay over. You can set that in Basecamp when you plan your route or on the GPS unit itself. I have found that that detail planning does not always transfer to the GPS. If I want thta detail on the GPS, I will then manually add it after I have transfered the route. 

I am not in front of my pc now. But if I recall when you have the properties of your route open in Basecamp, where you can see all your via points, you can right click on a waypoint and it will give you the options. 

I can double check for you later. 

Cheers

Danie. 

Sent from Outlook for Android

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From: 'fvdm' via Tracks4Africa <tracks...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2025 4:46:43 PM
To: Tracks4Africa <tracks...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [T4A] Plan for a break in a route

 

Is there a way to add a planned break time into a route? Say, for instance, I want to plan a 30-minute lunchtime at a viewpoint. That way that 30 minutes gets added to the total travel time for the route.

Tx 

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[Johann Groenewald]

If you are asking about the online Trip Planner, then no there is not such a function.

But I like the idea and we will add it to our list for development. We are planning to bring in an automated time delay on border posts in order to affect routing choices. 

Kind Regards

Johann Groenewald

On Fri, 22 Aug 2025, 16:46 'fvdm' via Tracks4Africa, <tracks...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Is there a way to add a planned break time into a route? Say, for instance, I want to plan a 30-minute lunchtime at a viewpoint. That way that 30 minutes gets added to the total travel time for the route.

Tx 

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[Brett]

Johann, whilst developing auto timers could you please consider the following. 

If I load my destination as Queenstown and my starting point is Cradock  I am routed through Tarkastad .. all good so far. However, if my mode of travel choice is 'shortest route' then when I arrive at  Tarkastad I am route via various neighborhoods and through the towns sewerage farm .. not my choice of a picnic spot 😁

My question is, is it possible to override the system whereby it recognizes that the best route through Tarkastad is in fact staying on the R61. It would recognize from say 1km out that Tarkastad just a waypoint and needs to keep you on the R61. 

The above was an actual true experience and I have had two really dangerous experiences by following the GPS directions at night which would have been averted if the software was able to do that.

Go well, safe travels 

Brett 

To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tracks4africa/CAGZ30Ra3Y%3D5QG02VKjk_kLQ6wCN8LRL5rv3UE8KXN2qNrMQ5wA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Johann Groenewald]

Hi Brett,

I tested that route on the Trip PLanner and it stays on the R61 throughout the Tarkastad.  This is regardless of the routing method being the shortest distance or fastest time.

But in general I would say use Fastest Time on any device as this would definitely have a better chance of staying on bypass or main roads when confronted with town or city streets.  When we code the roads data with attributes for routing we try to give bypass and main roads priority in terms of speed and road class, allowing the routing algorithm to choose these roads over city streets.  The routing algorithm looks at speed and road class in determining the 'weight' of a road segment.  For example, if a road is 100km long and we code a speed of 100kmh for the road then the time to drive this road is calculated as 1hr.  The road class will adjust this time as well.  If it is a main road we will actually make the route calculation time 1 x 0.9 = 0.9hrs.  - (the factor of 0.9 being a road class related number to give roads with higher road classes a better chance of being used)  If there was a minor road parallel to this main road with a similar average speed it would be penalised by a factor of 1.05 to ensure that the routing algorithm favours the main road.  The overall time to drive this route will then be calculated with the actual times ignoring the road class factors.  

In future one can create more of these profiles to create routes that favours certain road types, e.g. if you prefer gravel over tar we can penalise tar and favour gravel with similar factors.  But to explain this to the end user will be difficult and it will have unintended anomalies like taking a gravel track through town when a perfectly good tar road is just meters away.

Your question about overriding the system is not something that would be easy to factor in.  Your routing method was the shortest distance, so now when do you want the system to not give you the shortest distance - it becomes a very complex set of requirements to take into account.  For that reason I would say your default should always be fastest time and use shortest distance in cases where you can evaluate the chosen route ahead.

Kind regards

Johann

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Kind Regards

Johann Groenewald

[Brett]

Many thanks for replying so comprehensively Johann, much appreciated 🙏

To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tracks4africa/CAGZ30RYgPGt70xdK6P%2B8bgX6jBJm1Mo80MpAxfF8Bbf3jQ3bEg%40mail.gmail.com.

[David BANFORD]

What a good idea......

David

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From: tracks...@googlegroups.com <tracks...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Johann Groenewald <joh...@tracks4africa.co.za>
Sent: 22 August 2025 17:09
To: Tracks4Africa <tracks...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [T4A] Plan for a break in a route

 

To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tracks4africa/CAGZ30Ra3Y%3D5QG02VKjk_kLQ6wCN8LRL5rv3UE8KXN2qNrMQ5wA%40mail.gmail.com.

[fvdm]

Thank you Danie and Johann, much appreciated. And yes Johann, I'm using the online trip planner.