Canadian EST waaaaay off!

Joined
Mar 10, 2007
Messages
158
I find when traveling in the U.S., the TomTom does a good job of estimating time of arrival.

However, in Canada, a four hour trip can be estimated by over 3-4 hours longer than the trip should take! That is, it seems to double the time.

Why it does this in Canada, I don't know--but it is consistent. It must have something to do with how the TomTom perceives Canadian highways. I believe the TomTom zooms in closer on Canadian highways than it does on US interstates... might have something to do with it.

Anyway, would be nice to see this bug fixed.
 
I haven't travelled on a 4 hour trip, but I do go from Toronto to Kingston (which is about 2.5 hours) and the ETA is pretty accurate. It can be off a couple of minutes, but hours? never seen that.

Right now the time zone being observed is DST(-4)
 
Why it does this in Canada, I don't know--but it is consistent. It must have something to do with how the TomTom perceives Canadian highways.

Yes, the maps have built-in data to compensate for traffic congestion due to the many dog-sled teams on the roads. In additions, traffic is slowed by troupes of beaver crossing the highways. :D
 
Heh, heh... forgot about those those dog sled inhibitors.

This is the reply I received from TomTom...

We would like you to know that the average time of arrival / speed provided by our map's supplier may be different from the one given in the USA. For that reason, the estimated time for the trips in Canada are longer than the ones created in the USA.

Talk about a non-reply. 3-4 hours over estimated travel time is absurd. This is in Western Canada. I can't remember how it was in the East, but I think it was also quite inaccurate.

Time zone wouldn't make a difference, other than the display of the final time. The trip time is still hours over in estimation.
 
Heh, heh... forgot about those those dog sled inhibitors.

This is the reply I received from TomTom...

We would like you to know that the average time of arrival / speed provided by our map's supplier may be different from the one given in the USA. For that reason, the estimated time for the trips in Canada are longer than the ones created in the USA.

Talk about a non-reply. 3-4 hours over estimated travel time is absurd. This is in Western Canada. I can't remember how it was in the East, but I think it was also quite inaccurate.

Time zone wouldn't make a difference, other than the display of the final time. The trip time is still hours over in estimation.

Could be the average speed they inputted for highways (e.g. they may say Canadian highways are 80km/h so the computer uses 80km/h to calculate ETA even though highways like the Calgary Trail... or.. QE Highway now? has a 110km/h speed limit)
 
Could be the average speed they inputted for highways (e.g. they may say Canadian highways are 80km/h so the computer uses 80km/h to calculate ETA even though highways like the Calgary Trail... or.. QE Highway now? has a 110km/h speed limit)

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. However, it would be more like 65km/hour. But on the main highway (Yellowhead), the speed limit is 110km/h. This means that I arrive nearly twice as soon as the estimated time.
 
Time zone wouldn't make a difference, other than the display of the final time.
Exactly! Your post referred to the estimated arrival time, which is the time that it is estimated you will arrive!!

So, my post referred to ETA, in response to your question.

Now, you are talking about journey time (which, as you mention, is not affected). I try to help, but I am not clairvoyant!

If you want to see what the estimated road speeds are, just run a demo at 100%. I believe that the speed it says on the demo is the speed used for calculating routes. It should be.
 
I believe that the speed it says on the demo is the speed used for calculating routes.
Yes, but that is just one of many parts used to calculate ETA. In addition the type of road, number of turns (left and right diffenent!), number of crossings, traffic lights etc. It's a quite complex algotithm, and my meaning is that it's not very good when you have a journey consisting of many types of roads, highways, cities etc.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Latest resources

Forum statistics

Threads
28,825
Messages
194,362
Members
67,758
Latest member
J0ey2024

Latest Threads

Back
Top