Mecanim animator - character starts/stops walking immediately on trigger

I’m trying to get a mecanim character to stop walking immediately upon reaching a target destination. Sometimes it stops and sometimes it takes a second to stop, which makes the undesireable walking in place

Also, same with starting the walk animation - sometimes it starts immediately sometimes not - so the character appears to slide

I’ve tried both bool and trigger - are there better techniques for getting an animation to play or stop immediately?

Update: exit time screenshot

Your problem is most certainly related to the properties of your transitions between the Idle and Walking states. Make sure the exit time etc. are properly set to fit your needs.