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]

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.