School Zones

But there is a POI file you can add alerts to.

http://www.poi-factory.com/taxonomy/term/32

Pick the one you want/need

Welcome to The Factory and your first couple of posts.

The newer nuvi models have really nice school zone alerts for some areas including time-of-day alerts built into the nuvi itself but I gather that your GPS is not one of these.

There is a way to get school zone alerts on nuvi models but it's more complex than the standard Custom POI loading. Note that your 3590 will require wav audio and can not use mp3. Here goes:

What follows is what I use for an all-USA "school zone" poi. If creating your own local School Zone file where you use actual School Zones rather than Schools (buildings) for POI locations, my procedure will not be needed. But if you're using a POI file that uses locations of the school buildings and you want to use it for School Zones alerts, you will likely need to follow my procedure.

First, download the Schools POI file from The Factory with its 170,258 schools:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/17

Unzip the file and use the csv as you would any other Custom POI.

Rename the file to include TourGuide; i.e.:

Schools_TourGuide.csv

Download an icon and audio file from The Factory and rename each to: Schools_TourGuide.bmp, and Schools_TourGuide.wav (or if your nuvi can handle it, Schools_TourGuide.mp3). For TourGuides to work, an associated audio files is required--it is not an optional feature.

Load to your GPS with POI Loader in manual mode and set an alert distance for the Schools_TourGuide file. I use 550 feet. I find that if I use a larger value, I get false positive alerts for schools on adjacent streets parallel to me. You can tinker with this setting but for me 550-600' is what works best for me. If you live in a rural area with small towns rather than large cities, a larger radius should be tried.

Make sure that alerts are turned on with your GPS, then either take your GPS out for a drive or run a simulation past some schools and see if you get alerts.

For beginners, I do NOT recommend starting with this Custom POI installation. I assume folks trying this are already familiar with POI Loader in manual mode, familiar with installing bmp icons and audio (remembering that wav files and sox.exe are required for most new nuvis, while mp3 can be used on several older nuvis), and understand the special nature of TourGuide compared to other POI files. For those needing help, a search through The Factory's FAQs and message archive is where you need to start, then come back and ask questions as needed.

Why TourGuides? With this schools POI file, the locations identified are the actual school buildings which are oftentimes set back quite a ways from the roadways, meaning that driving past the school will not result in a GPS alert. As an approximation of School Zone locations, using the Schools file as a TourGuide with a 550' distance will set a radius large enough to include the streets adjacent to the school and will offer an alert. I find in general that I get an alert about 50-100 feet before I see most schools' 15mph School Zone warning signs. I'd love more of a warning but that increases the number of false positive alerts.

Note on the Schools POI file: 1) the file is USA only, 2) the file is a zip and needs to be unzipped, 3) the description states that changes are made to this file 1-2 times a year although I suspect it's much less frequent that that, 4) The Schools POI file does not appear on your "My Favorite Files" list at The Factory so you need to check it on occasion for updates, and 5) there's no indication of revision dates so you almost need to download the file every now and then and see if the file size is different than the one you're currently using. If different, it's time to install the newer version--if not, then you can keep using the older one already installed to your GPS.

More discussion:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/39621

Wow, thanks for the detailed response!

My new nuvi 3590 does appear to have built-in school zone alerts but when driving by a local high school, it alerted on the road that is in front of the school but not on the road that runs along the side (both have enforced school zone reduced speed limits). I was wondering if there was a way to improve Garmin's built-in alerts by adding a POI file that filled in the missing locations.

I will definitely have to start experimenting with different types of POI alerts. Sounds like fun!

I suspect the file mentioned above is not updated, or kept accurate, for at least a couple of years. We have a "new" school in the area that has been open for 3 years and one closed that I drive pass on a regular basis and has been "decommissioned" for at least a couple of years.

I wanted to have a school zone file where there are actually speed zones and have I have done so for some nearby schools. I set the coordinates for the "school zone" signs. A lot of the locations in the file mentioned above are not really "school zoned" so I don't want them alerting me.

I agree with what you said about CraigW doing a great job of explaining.

I don't see any reason why you could not experiment with creating a file of schools that are not in the Garmin built-in file. It would be a good exercise.

However, we first want to make sure that you have done some basics.

There is a "Learn" button in the upper right of this page next to "red light cameras" that takes you to a Getting Started page. It is worthwhile visiting this page.

To make navigation easy, most browsers provide the following option. When you want to follow a link - but still keep your current page open - you can hold down the "Ctrl" key as you left-click on a link. That action will open a new "Tab" in your browser up on the "Tab" bar. When you then left-click on that new "Tab", you will follow the link - leaving the "Tab" you are now reading open and available to click on and return here.

So, using the "Learn" link, you might try the "Ctrl" - left-click sequence and then return here. You can return by either "X-ing" out of the "Getting Started" page (using the "X" on the "Tab" itself) or just left-clicking on the "Tab" for the page you are on right now.

Since you are new here, I encourage you to go through a couple of the Tutorials.

The first link makes sure the settings on your computer are such that you can do more advanced POI loading.
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30393

The next link helps you make a backup of your GPS by attaching it to your computer. (NEVER do anything to your GPS until you have a backup). It also assures that you put your (newer) unit into a state where you can see all of the folders there.
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30394

You may already have done all this but we want to make sure. So - report back and we will get you started with creating POI files for yourself.

For the alerts you will need sox.exe and wav files to get your voice alerts for custom pois.See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 .Custom pois see http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25721 .

The built in school zone files will only give you the defult bing or bong alert.Custom pois will allow for creating voice alerts.No way to add locations to the built in pois. You have to create your own file.

Will do.

I also found this web page that has some good info on custom alert POI's:
http://brillharts.com/GarminAlerts/

We have a link to that sile in our FAQs

dbrillha's Guide to setting up Custom POI Alerts & TourGuides {G}

I believe the school zone alert is a great idea. Does anyone know if the Garmin 3490 has that feature built in?

Can I use EPE to change the distance and use Express Mode?

Yes, if you are talking about the Schools.zip file from the Factory.

Have no idea about the built-in school zones.

Yes, I was only referring to the custom POI's.

Dude.....

good link

Great information