Prevalence of bad mapping

I don't know. First off, as you may know already, Garmin is not the mapping company than puts together the maps. They buy the maps from a mapping company and put them into their GPS units. So it isn't Garmin's fault.

Second, you may have also heard that Garmin uses the same Mapping company used by Google Maps. We can assume Google probably updates their maps several times a year since they do not have to update anything by their web servers. Garmin only does it once a year or so because it requires loading them into lots of little GPS devices, creating tons of new DVDs, etc. So we can make the assumption that if you check Google Maps you will either find the same faults (in which case Garmin will still have them) or if they are no longer on Google Maps, then we can hope that means they will be fixed on the next release of the Garmin map DVDs and GPSs.

Finally, I believe Garmin has a place on the web site where you can check locations to see if they are currently in their new maps. So when they release the next versions, sometime this year we assume, you can check and see if it is worth upgrading to you by checking some of those faults you found and see if they are fixed or still present. Again, if still there, not really Garmin's fault.

PT

as far as the intersection, I would double check and make sure that you are choosing the right street. For instance, you may be choosing "North Main St." instead of "South Main St."

Yes, as far as the address, the gpsr calculates the address number based where it SHOULD be. In other words, lets say you have the following...

--Main St with numbers starting from 1000-2000
|----------------------------------------------|
1000----------------^--------------------2000

Where the ^ is, should be 1500 (in the middle). However, in reality, it may be a little ahead of that or a little behind that...understand?

Many times roads and freeways don't really have intersections because there is an overpass. They cross each other, but because the mapping has been coded to say whether turns are possible, the S/W might not see it as an intersection. Any chance there's an overpass at the subject "intersection"?

Someone should just put little blinky lights on top of taxi cabs and take time elapsed photos from the space station. All the roads in a city would be easy to map.

Jen

Yes, there was an overpass there.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not dissatisfied with the Garmin Maps. I know they aren't anywhere near 100% accurate, but neither are any other maps or mapping programs I've used. That said...I disagree with your opinion that it's not Garmin's fault that the maps are not more accurate. They are manufacturing and marketing the device and are responsible for the content of the software and maps on the device. Obviously, they could have considered a different source of maps (even though another choice may have been worse), or they could have created their own maps. Again, I'm not faulting the maps, just disagreeing with your comment.

I don't believe Garmin is going into the map business for the world when that cost to them will close them down. The other mapping company map's are I think worse, had a TomTom.

I disagree with you that Garmin is responsible for error's in map of others. Even if they went into mapping they won't be 100% correct either with the way roads and highways are always changing. So use it where you will get to the right location 99% of the time without going crazy of reading a paper map when you drive.

Can't seem to make everyone happy all the time.

I just commented on this same issue at node 11508 You can read my thoughts there.

Dump question? How to I get to read Node 11508?

What's a "Dump question"? Is it landfill related?

In the URL bar above, see how this thread is #11417?

Type in 11508 in place of the 11417 and you are there.

PT

Thank You, didn't look up there.

"I disagree with your opinion that it's not Garmin's fault that the maps are not more accurate. They are manufacturing and marketing the device and are responsible for the content of the software and maps on the device. Obviously, they could have considered a different source of maps (even though another choice may have been worse), or they could have created their own maps. Again, I'm not faulting the maps, just disagreeing with your comment."

Do people who make this sort of comment actually have a clue just how complex the road systems are? Even the mapping companies whose sole mission is to create maps can't keep pace with construction. They don't even have some streets for as much as 5 or 6 years back simply because they have never received any information about those streets. Nobody has the personnel resources to cover every street, in every city, town, village and county in the US, much less in the mapped parts of the developed countries of the world. It is a monumental task, and I'm often amazed that they do it as well as they do.

So you think that Garmin, whose business focus is on GPS receivers, should get into the map creation business too??? Sorry, but that is an absurd idea. The simple fact that they are only able to do one update per year should tell you that they are at capacity just working at implementing the data they buy from NavTeq. Branching out into data collection and mapping really isn't reasonable.

And nobody is really any better than NavTeq at mapmaking. There are differences between different companies for different areas, but all have their good points and bad points. NavTeq has crews all over the country (and world, I assume) whose full time job is to check and verify information received on road changes. All they can do is keep verifying the changes that are submitted, often by people like us, and once verified, put them into the database for the next update. Garmin buys that updated map and database and tweaks it for their specific uses. They then release that update annually. The whole process takes considerable time, so there is necessarily a lag between change request, data update, and eventual release to the consumer.

The gist being that blaming Garmin, or even NavTeq, just because you find a map error is unjustifiable. It's the process that is at fault, and so far there hasn't been a better one implemented and proven.

Wow ... how do I get that job ?

I would recommend applying directly to NavTeq.

Those were Columbus exact words while looking for India and landing in San Salvador.

My only bad experience comes from traveling through new construction areas; the unit just doesn't know its there. But I have never been given wrong directions. Sure, there have been plenty of times that the route I was given wasn't THE most efficient route I could take, and sometimes its down-right silly. (Once, it wanted me to turn right down a side street, then two lefts to get back to the road I was already on). But I have never been given genuinely wrong directions.

A good friend of mine introduced me to personal GPS devices several years ago when he got tired of OnStar trying to tell him to turn left into Lake Michigan when traveling through Chicago. I've been much better off with my GPSmap 60 (loaded with local maps) and my Nuvi than I've ever been using paper maps. Perfect? Nope...

As a rule I use my gpsr to get me as close to the address as possible. Then I use 2 old fashion tools (my eyes) to find the actual location.

Works everytime!

And what's with the stars next to my windmill?

I always bring a good paper map of any city I go to just in case. works every time. Low tech solutions can be better sometimes.