Route Numbers vs. Road Names

I prefer road names and at least in Ontario, Canada, most roads are being given names. It's easier for the fire department to find a location, when the people in rural areas give road names, instead of route or highway numbers and a location number.

In addition, hwy routes can carry on for a significant distance more than a particular section of a road, that has been given a name.

It's not uncommon for a road to have two route numbers, because two roads overlap each other at some point and then they split off at another spot.

In that case, what route number do you call it?

I prefer the road name most of the time. And, I figger most people would too. Locals when talking to you about where something is, they usually refer to the road name. My Garmna, seems to use routes sometimes, and road names sometimes. So, it doesnt bother me at all, but generally the road name is preferable, especially in the inner cities.

But that won't fit all situations, either. In my area, we have just the opposite problem. All the county roads have names, and there are no route numbers posted. The Garmin shows and speaks route numbers most of the time and not the street names. What's odd is that the map shows CR-22 and the spoken guidance says "County Route 22" but the green bar showing the next turn has the street name. Obviously, both data are in the Garmin map and the GPS is choosing which to display and which to speak.

Based on your post, the route numbers would be better for you. For my area, the names would be better. Sure would be nice if we had a setup option to let us choose what we prefer.

In some cases, people refer to a road by it's FM #, but the addresses of places on that road are the road name, not the number. That leads to a lot of confusion, but it isn't Garmin's fault. In other locations the main reference is the name, but there is also a route number or multiple route numbers on the road.

I prefer route names...but BOTH would be best. I also think it is riculous that Garmin understands I93 but has no clue if I enter just route 93. Please. It doesn't even give I93 as a CHOICE if I forget and just enter the number without the letter.

Almost everyone will call "East Dublin-Granville Road" "161". That is actually "OHIO State Route 161" but everyone locally just calls it "161."

Sometimes one way is convenient, sometimes the other way is. Being told in Logan OH to follow Hunter Street going east towards New Straitsville is wrong, because OH 93 forks to the left almost immediately, and if I stay on Hunter, I wind up off route.

So, I have to use my brain, and I look at the magenta line. I am on Hunter Street AND OH 93 at the time of the voice command from my GPS. Somehow, I figure out what to do.

I can pretty well go just about anywhere, with the GPS just showing the road name. The only place I would need a route number would be in finding interstate highways. Cities and towns is the main place I need a GPS, the route numbers are almost meaningless to me there. I see no need in Garmin changing it from the way they are doing things now!

One of my pet peeves are the local TV traffic reporters that use names for the Interstates around Chicago rather than the numbers. Kennedy Expy, Eisenhauer Expy, Reagan Memorial Hwy, Veterans Pkwy, Jane Adams Tollway and Edens Expy are not familiar enough, even living in this area for my 62 years to process quickly when they are reporting. I-90, I-94, I-294, I-355 and I-88 are much easier for my brain.

I can't imagine what visitors must think. The names are not posted along these routes like the numbers are.

Companies like Navteq should accept feedback from us, their end customers. They should not be making arbitrary decisions on these navigation issues.

I really like the idea of an option, especially if they both really are available.

As example, I have spent all my 71 years in this immediate area, but when I bought my GPS, it kept telling me to go to Broadway to go west and I thought it was crazy and ignored it since I knew where I was going. Mostly I never looked at the map even. Finally I was looking around at the second intersection I went through and there was a Broadway sign. Locally the road is just Old Highway 20. Where Broadway came from I still don't know. Another place that street names are a pain is for instance the bypass around Oklahoma City from I35 S to I40 W. It has several names and if you don't get it just right, it's hard to find. The reason Congress numbered the highways way back when was to provide consistency which names sure don't do.

I see that we all have our own preferences to what we like to see on our GPS unit. I believe that when we are all traveling in unfamiliar areas all we have to go by is signage, maps, and GPS instructions. If the GPS agrees with the signage in the particular area that would be great. It is comforting to see a route sign or street name that corresponds to what the GPS is telling you. I have many times come to an intersection that GPS tells me to turn onto a named road with no road names signs anywhere but there are route signs well displayed. That is where I am coming from. I believe NAVTEQ needs to field verify such things.

We do have our issues. I mentioned this street and number issue in one of my other posts. At home i do question where my nuvi comes from when it sends me places. Why would it send me down a busy street with traffic lights every block when i can take the Hwy? Dunno, especially when its set to faster time. It also doesn't know when a Hwy changes into a street, as i'm sure most larger towns have a Hwy that leads through town and the hwy number changes to a street name some where along the line. Having said all this...whats important here? For me, at home i don't care since i know where i am going. When traveling i do care that when it tells me to turn at a given corner that the name on the sign is the same name on my nuvi. I don't care if it takes me around one extra corner, since i wouldn't know that anyway and i wouldn't find that a big issue either.

Claudius

Now this makes me appreciate that Ontario shows both the street name and the Road Number, as far as county and regional roads are concerned.

I agree with Ric, and also know there is a need for names as well. If you are in your local area, names are just fine.

While traveling in SC this week I found most roads were named, a real pain as many roads support 2-6 route NUMBERS. Having never been in this locality I need a hawk's eye to catch all the numbers and find what I was trying to travel.

Ric's order of importance, Interstate, state, county etc. is well thought out.

From what i read on a newsgroup, the 911 systems are now requiring street names, not route numbers to avoid confusion for emergency response.

But isn't it annoyinbg when you get routing instructions something like "drive 126 miles on Maple Street", as the units can give no distinction when the road changes from a locally named street name to a highway route number.

Our trips to South West Wisconsin seems that county road numbers have survived. And like someone mentioned, state route numbers overlap quite a bit. Near Mauston & Wisconsin Dells I have traveled on several roads that have 6 SR numbers on the same post.
In Illinois the roads that Jill mentions are not always supported by the signs along the road, at least in the rural counties. Looking at the paper maps sometimes further confuses the issue.
I think the 911 network has caused counties to change the signs to conform to the 911 routing software.

The lower/smaller number takes priority. In the case of routing with GPS whatever the planned route continues on should be used.

To answer the original poster, no you are not alone in your thinking. If anyone knows of a GPS I can buy that displays major route nos. / highway nos., please let me know. Maybe a truck GPS? Big government rears it's ugly head again. If I were driving an ambulance in my hometown, 911 would be great but I don't drive an ambulance. I don't even live in a town but my address has a town attached to it. A fact that I resent. Street names are good in the smog center. I know the state hwy. numbers in & out of the nearest town but I don't know the road names & I don't care what 911 wants. It is to eliminate confusion they say? What could be more confusing than trying to follow a route with a GPS that keeps giving you a different name for the hwy. you are trying to follow every 10 feet & every wide spot in the road that has declared itself some sort of political entity. That way you are assured your GPS is totally worthless & you will always be lost.
I programed my first computer in 1960 something & I own & operate survey grade GPS equipment so I am no stranger to technology. We now live in what I call the age of high tech isolation. You can find anything on the internet as long as it is something they want you to know or think you need to know or apparently something I want to know. I have been looking for information on which GPS units will display hwy. nos. but haven't found the answer.
I guess the only recourse I have & other folks that need the same thing is the power of the purse. When it starts hitting GPS makers in the pocket book, maybe they will add the features we require. Since I lost my last street GPS, I have not been able to find a replacement I will buy.

Welcome to the site.

I take it that you do not currently have a GPS and that you want any GPS you buy to have certain features, but I am unclear exactly what those features are.

It sounds like you want any unit you buy to preferentially display "route" (whether that be county, state or federal) numbers on the Map Display rather than the name of the road. And, I assume that - if the road has route numbers for multiple jurisdictions (eg. federal, state, county) you want the chosen number to be in that respective order.

Since this is a very old thread (the post previous to yours was in 2012), I do not think I have read it before. What it made me think of, however, is how I would be impacted when maintaining POI files if my unit worked from "route numbers" rather than "roads". When I created the Jo-Ann file, what I had to work from was a list of the addresses of the stores. I suspect that these addresses were dictated by how the jurisdiction specified addresses for its tax roles.

Then I got to thinking if I had ever been troubled by how my unit routed me when I used it to get me to some location in an area unfamiliar to me. I could not think of any problem I ever had that involved "route" versus "road". Indeed, using lane guidance", I just was following directions.

I do note that the newer devices will let you choose things like "route", "State Rd" "county rd" and show you numerous choices when you do a "Where To" to establish a destination. However, the "Map Display" does show "Road" names as you travel.

Once again, welcome

If you download and install the free map for your area from garmin.openstreetmaps.nl and select that map on your device, it may give you what you want. I personally prefer the Garmin names.

After driving truck all over the country for 40 years. I prefer the Route Number. Street names tell you nothing about the road type. Names change all the time. Numbers remain.

Still valid for sure but it took 8 years to respond...
What this forum needs is a pop up reminding replies that the last update was... a long time ago.

Maybe we need a Zombie section for posts that keep coming back to life.

I'm not bored enough to research it, but I wonder what thread/topic had the longest "resting" time until it was "woke" up again?

This happens because the POPULAR CONTENT - TODAT'S section leads people to think it's active.

I started reading this and I thought, ‘Who are these people?’ (I thought that maybe the Factory had picked up a lot of new workers before I looked at the dates and saw how old they were.) These are people who I have long ago forgot about. Makes one wonder if they are still around.

I wonder if tmillar219 comes back and thinks, DUH that was dumb. Seems he has been an active member so knows the ropes. In his defense, I have inadvertently responded to a topic I was interested in, but well past its time.

This may be an 8 year old thread but the issue is still a valid one.

Lately, on a few occasions, I have noticed both name and route number displayed. It's mostly on rural township (TRxxxx) roads though.

Maybe there's hope.

I can see route numbers often when zoomed out, then when zooming in I see the road name. I have trouble making an address come up using the route number often.

Yes, I noticed that also.

both would be optimum.