That or just not go at all ha. Living in the D.C. area often times before I go somewhere I check to see what the traffic is like regardless if I already know where I'm going. I don't want to have to go through the whole routing process to find what the traffic conditions are and for better or worse Apple Maps privacy often doesn't allow its user to have real time data.
I don't mind Apple Maps on road trips, as long as you don’t want to add a stop, but around town checking reviews on places with it's terrible Yelp interface (no I don't want to download the Yelp app!) or getting current info on construction/delays in a major city it's basically useless. IMO Google Maps is the clear winner for city use but that's to be expected when Google Maps had 1.2B users in Dec 2020 but Apple only says it has hundreds of millions (so not a billion). Having just switched back I also like Google Maps fuel efficiency feature.
Source:
https://www.justinobeirne.com/how-many-people-use-google-maps-compared-to-apple-maps#:~:text=Apple, meanwhile, told us as,around 900–950 million users.
You need to read the whole article before assuming tht number of users makes a difference in traffic for most people. If 75% of Google Maps users are outside of the USA, why would I care? The true number isn't known, but yes, since Google Maps is multi-platform, it could be assumed there are more users, even in iOS heavy countries. But countries that have more iOS users than Android provides a significant advantage for those using Apple Maps...Apple also tracks "traffic" as a default with every single device moving whether or not they are using Maps at the time. So the number of Maps users (whether Google or Apple...or Waze) is then somewhat irrelevant when it comes to traffic data.
I used Google Maps on a 12 hour trip this past weekend (Pixel 5 with Android Auto) and it performed functionally no better than Apple Maps, and was visually much worse for me (I also live in a new Maps area...USA).
My biggest concern with Google has always been that they show "speed", not traffic. Every stop sign, every traffic light, every curve where people slow down, Google shows yellow or red lines. That's not "traffic"...Apple Maps shows true traffic and will only show red or yellow at the examples I gave above if their algorithm shows true delays beyond the normal stop and go expected at intersections.
Google Maps certainly has more "data" than Apple, but Apple is catching up fast, especially in new Maps areas...but yes, a long way to go as they limit direct user input and have a much more stringent vetting process for changes.
Google obviously realizes they are behind Apple when it comes to the UI including their change last year on terrain graphics (which still didn't work properly on my drive) and the addition of traffic light and stop sign symbols, although those right now are just visual references and not integrated into the actual routing info supplied to the user. Expecting they are working quickly on making that happen. I also experienced many missing symbols on my drive and some cases, lights showing where they didn't exist (a glitch in my opinion).
There will always be examples of one being better than the other in certain areas/situations, but I travel quite a bit around the USA and Apple Maps over the past few years has been on par with Google for directions, traffic, and routing, WAY better in my opinion on the UI and only slightly behind when it comes to POI info/data although I have had more than few examples in NYC where Apple info was more up to date than Google.
I just hope Apple opens up Maps to all web based users like Google does so there can be faster user input for changes, pre-route planning on non-Apple devices and the ability to add other features like multi-waypoint routing (although I've never had a reason to use this feature personally).