EffectAttention & information · Availability Heuristic · Entry 17
Well-Travelled Road Effect – when familiar routes feel faster
Does your daily commute feel shorter than a new route of the same distance? That’s Well-Travelled Road Effect – the tendency to underestimate travel time on familiar routes and overestimate it on unfamiliar ones.
Where it can show up
- Trips – the way home feels shorter than the way there, even though it's the same distance.
- Work – new tasks seem longer and harder than routine ones, even if they take the same time.
- Travel – getting to a new place feels exhausting, but the return trip feels faster.
A practical countermeasure
- Remember that time perception is subjective – familiar routes require less mental effort.
- Focus on facts, not feelings – the travel time is the same both ways.
- Don’t avoid new routes – the unfamiliar only feels longer at first.
