It’s been several months since Fairfield’s Highway 34 Bypass opened for use; yet Google And Yahoo! Maps still show the old route, with the new bypass missing entirely. When I first noticed the problem my geek side was curious - how do they go about updating their applications to reflect changes like the bypass?
Then, as the weeks and months rolled by, I started having first hand experiences with people (relatives and delivery drivers) not able to find our house due to erroneous route information still on Google and Yahoo! Maps. For instance both my mother and a freight carrier “bypassed” Fairfield entirely before realizing (15 minutes down the highway) they needed to exit.
After the old hospital was shut down and the new one opened; I started thinking about the potential problems with using online maps for directions to the Hospital. Are the in car navigation systems also out of date now? I searched through Google and Yahoo! Map documentation to see how one goes about correcting errors in their data. I found a lot of information about correcting personal and business addresses. But it took me awhile to find Google’s documentation where they point to TeleAtlas for directions on how to correct errors in their map data – like missing routes or new roads. I submitted the error to TeleAtlas (”Highway 34 now bypasses Fairfield, Iowa to the South. The old highway 34 that runs through Fairfield, Iowa is now Business 34″).
Their immediate response was a tracking number: 055eb641-af38-102c-9541-57549f23d0ac.
This all got me wondering – who’s job is it to make sure all the maps are updated? Is it:
- Iowa Department of Transportation?
- Fairfield Iowa Chamber of Commerce (i.e. Brett Willett and/or Nancy Morrissey)?
- Mayor Ed Malloy’s office? – I’m picturing Ed filling out the form I just did on TeleAtlas.
- One of the guys tearing up business 34 with a bulldozer?
- Some random Internet user/citizen?
Anyway, we now have a tracking number. Let’s see what happens.
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Yeah, when Justin Roth was here he said his GPS thought he was driving in a cornfield – from his comment I was sort of under the impression that some GPS devices are a lot like a paper Atlas – you buy one from last year and you get the old maps! But I don't know exactly.
Also, would that link work to tell Google that it should be Chautauqua Park, not Pumphrey Park??
Doh! My requests was rejected (see tracking link in post). Brett from the Chamber put in a request so hopefully he'll have better luck.
We've has numerous visitors get lost on the bypass. Sucky signage doesn't help, however that will soon be changed.
Both our requests were bounced too- we're drafting a more detailed version we hope will fare better.
In the meanwhile Fairfield is more Brigadoon-ish than ever.^_^
Both Google and Yahoo receive map data from one of the two major digital map suppliers, in the case of Google it is Teleatlas, and for Yahoo, it's Navteq. Both companies release regular updates to both online map software like Google, Yahoo, Mapquest etc, and also to the major GPS/Sat nav device manufacturers. (e.g.Tom Tom use Teleatlas, Garmin use Navteq).
It can take several months for the new data to reach the end user software, so there is no instant fix. Though if you think how many miles of roads around the world it is really not that bad.
Both companies survey the roads using gps equipped cars and various other ways like monitoring local authority road building plans etc. But all changes must be verified by a surveyor before a change can be made.
Hope that helps.
34 bypass still not updated on Google Maps. With holiday travel coming up it I'm certain this will result in some frustrating moments.
The bypass is now updated to Google Maps!
I've got to tell you, as much as I appreciate Google, I have had nothing but problems with Google Maps directions. I use Mapquest. Do others feel the same?