[OSM-talk] TomTom is thumping us

[ce-test, qualified testing bv - Gert Gremmen]

TomTom is right, OSM is still a immature product.
That may change, but it isn't yet.  But for a few Garmins
serious routing on OSM is a hazardous enterprise.
Even in the Netherlands, one of the countries with
a high completion rate, road classification is NOT
consistent, so are the deafault traffic rules that go with it.
A router may find a route, but that is it. No comfort,
no lanes, no direction signs, no traffic lights, and no
obstruction warnings.
Many roads (albethem small ones) are still marked pedestrian,
and inhibit a car router to reach destination.
Cycle roads are tagged inconsistently or plain faulty, and there
are many ,many real errors. At the time, before OSMF 
told me to stop correcting the map for something as trivial
as a license, I found errors on every 20 roads on average.
Not all fatal, but enough to make me turn to Google
Navigon or TomTom to get me at my destination.
Those who state the contrary are too forgiving with their "baby".
And yes as Greg says, you may correct the errors, but when you're done
correcting the error, you do not need OSM anymore to get there !!!


Regards,

Gert 


-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Greg Troxel [mailto:gdt at ir.bbn.com] 
Verzonden: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 5:00 PM
Aan: John Sturdy
CC: talk at openstreetmap.org
Onderwerp: Re: [OSM-talk] TomTom is thumping us


John Sturdy <jcg.sturdy at gmail.com> writes:

> On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 9:40 AM, Thomas Davie <tom.davie at gmail.com>
wrote:
>> To be honest, if a road has no classification, and is made of mud and

>> gravel, it's a track...
>
> The ones I reclassified typically had two wheel-tracks of soil-colour 
> and grass between them, I think.  If it's asphalt-coloured, even if 
> there is grass growing down the middle, I still call it a road.

I think the real issue between road and track is whether it's a public
way or private way (both roads) vs just someplace where one can
physically drive a vehicle.   In Massachusetts, both private and public
ways are discernable by parcel boundaries, and tracks (both agricultural
and within conservation) are not.

Exactly what the condition is a separate issue, although typically a
road will be at least a decent dirt road.