Why is Mapquest so sucky?

Alex · 07-03-2008, 09:46 AM

A computer calculates the trips.

They buy the data on what roads exist, where they are, what direction they (if one way, for example), the speed limit, etc.

Then computers use some very complex route selecting algorithms to predict the most efficient route. Thousands of routes may quickly be evaluated (gross oversimplification) for a given request and they won't always get it right.

In this case, since Mapquest did give the right route (Google Maps switched between the one I linked to and the one you gave depending on the exact address in Orange used as the destination), it just screwed up the description of the path through the 5/22/57 interchange and I suspect that is a defect in the vendor data, not their own.

07-03-2008, 09:46 AM	#11
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	A computer calculates the trips. They buy the data on what roads exist, where they are, what direction they (if one way, for example), the speed limit, etc. Then computers use some very complex route selecting algorithms to predict the most efficient route. Thousands of routes may quickly be evaluated (gross oversimplification) for a given request and they won't always get it right. In this case, since Mapquest did give the right route (Google Maps switched between the one I linked to and the one you gave depending on the exact address in Orange used as the destination), it just screwed up the description of the path through the 5/22/57 interchange and I suspect that is a defect in the vendor data, not their own.
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