Google Maps, New England style

[cos]

I just got the Google Maps version of "You can't get theah from heah!"

I'm planning a road trip for this summer, and using Google Maps to help me figure out distances on unfamiliar variants of cross country routes, and what stops make sense between one place and another. I just tried to get a route from Tempe, Arizona (new home of listgirl) to Hillsdale, NY (approximate site of Falcon Ridge Folk Festival).

This was Google's answer:


"We could not calculate driving directions between Tempe, AZ and Hillsdale, NY."

Comments

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

That's what they get for using Navteq data.

[cos]

This is the first time I've ever seen this particular error, and I suspect it's not the date, it's the route-finding algorithm taking too long. When I tried the search again a few minutes later, it had a route for me.

But since you know loads about this, do tell me, what is your complaint about the Navteq data? What do you think they should've used?

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

Heh, I was mostly just being snarky. The biggest problem is that Google Maps uses a combination of Navteq and Tele Atlas data, but AFAIK they don't sew the data together; which data you get, if they've got dual coverage, depends on which server you hit; they're both about the same quality overall, but I think TANA ranks a bit higher on the interstate connectivity scale - NTEQ is better for in-city travel, frankly.
(The problem would indeed be in the routing algorithm, probably it was disjointed at a state border, and had to find a way around.)

[xthread.livejournal.com]

What's a navteq?

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

Navteq and Tele Atlas NA are the two main players in the auto navigation GIS field (as well as most other GIS applications, actually) in North America. I can't really get you specific information on them (I'm at work, and that might raise eyebrows) but their data gathering methods are markedly different from TANA's; sometimes, in a good way, sometimes in a bad way.

... but bad directions

[cos]

This is another one of the many, many cases where Google and MapQuest give different directions, and MapQuest's make a lot more sense. The pattern I think I've been seeing may have something to do with how they weight the relative value of using better roads vs. travelling a longer distance, but there may be multiple factors at play.