For example, lets say I have two parallel roads with starting point and ending point 1 mile apart.
The left hand road is as flat and straight as an arrow.
The right hand road is also straight....but has a series of sine-wave shaped hills and valleys.
Obviously, if I measure using a Surveyor's wheel, the second path will be longer, even though both roads are starting and ending a mile apart.
My question: which measurement does google maps use? Does it account for difference in elevation adding to the travel distance?
Answer
I doubt it. Since the length of a sloped road would be sqrt(1+x^2)-times the length of the flat one (where x is the slope). For low values of x, this is roughly 1+1/2*x^2, which is rather low, eg. for a 10 % slope, you get an error of 0.5 %. Not considering the actual lane you drive probably has a similar error.
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