Satnav recommendations please

[ambientskies]

I must admit that there is an area SW of MK that's the same 4 miles... but I wouldn't venture out of the door without Jane

[blackbat]

Thanks a lot Andy. A very comprehensive answer

[Andy_P]

Originally Posted by Firework Crazy

Local knowledge yes, for example, in Chelmsford if your at the shop it tells you to go out to the A12 from the army and navy however if you go right it takes 4 miles and 6 minutes off your journey, now thats just blatantly stupid.

Ah no, that's not local knowledge, that's just plain wrong.
There's probably a reason for it like a small section of road has been assigned the wrong "time to travel" data.
Any chance you can PM me with exact details of start and end point, the route it suggests and the better route? I can then pass it on to TT for investigation.

[»Firework Crazy]

This is the route it wants you to take. 7.5m



This is the direct route. 3.5m

[»Firework Crazy]

It also thinks there is a double roundabout here, there's never been one!

[dogsbody]

i live in the middle of a field according to several!!! house has only been here 50 years!!!

[Andy_P]

I know it's academic (and also that TT do now own TeleAtlas) but these are officially map errors, not TomTom errors.

Thanks for the examples Mark, I'll certainly pass them on and if I get any feedback I'll let you know.

[Andy_P]

Mark
I worked out your route from your pictures (from the Army and Navy Roundabout to just past the sliproad on the A12) and tried it on the latest machine with latest maps.

Yes, it takes the route via the A1114/A12 but the reason is that it believes it to be faster.
If you set it to calculate "shortest route" instead, it picks your preferred route.

My figures are:
Route A via the A1114/A12 - 7 minutes 55 seconds, 7.4 miles
Route B via the A414 - 8 minutes 55 seconds, 4.1 miles.

(not sure where you got 3.5 miles from... Google Maps agrees it is 4.1 miles)

Also, the speed limit on Route A is 70mph all the way except for a short stretch of 60mph around the double roundabout, but on your Route B it's 40mph all the way until the London Road becomes dual carriageway.

So it's working correctly, the only issue is if the journey times it reckons are dramatically wrong.

[Andy_P]

And for the second one, there's no double roundabout on the A127 Southend Arterial/A130 crossover on any of the maps I've got.
What map version are you running?
(you can find out on older models by tapping the signal strength bars and then tapping the small software version box. That should give you a text screen showing the map name and version number. On newer models you get to the same place by selecting "Status and Info" from the main or preferences menu).

[»Firework Crazy]

1 mile @ 40mph and 3 miles @ 70mph are still faster than 7 miles @ 70mph