Is there a way of marking roads as less preferable?

[Krellan]

I have a TomTom GO 930.

I'm curious if there is a way to mark certain roads as less preferable, without having to roadblock them off entirely.

The TomTom is making routing mistakes, trying to send me down small little back roads, as the crow flies, instead of keeping me on the main streets of town which would get me around faster.

The side roads would be great if I was on a walking or bicycle trip, but I'm in a car. So, I don't want to add false roadblocks to the map, because that would close the routes off completely, which I don't want to do.

Here's an example:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.7012,-122.0882

I live in Castro Valley, CA.

My commute takes me south on a major road, Lake Chabot Dr, then turns west onto another major road, Castro Valley Blvd.

However, the TomTom wants me to turn onto two side streets. It wants me to turn west from Lake Chabot Dr onto Somerset, then south onto Stanton, then west onto Castro Valley Blvd.

This jog is unnecessary, and in fact it's slower. There's no stoplight at Stanton, so you end up waiting longer to make your turn, than you would if you had just continued south on Lake Chabot Dr and made the turn onto Castro Valley Blvd from there.

Is there a way I can tell the TomTom to not do this? Is there a way to send in a map correction? This request didn't fit into any of the predefined categories, because it's a routing problem, not a road closure problem.

Thanks!

Josh

 

[dhn]

Well, you could change the speed on the road to, say, 5 mph and not share the changes with others. Then, pick 'fastest' as the route method. TT will not send you down slow roads (hopefully).

 

[Ricochet]

Over time, IQ Routing should take care of this problem for you, depending on those two roads. How do they differ? Length? Width? Stops? What makes your choice the better one?


I'm not sure if you can "bias" the device by steadfastly taking your route, regardless of which way it routes you. It's worth a try.

Note: I did this, prior to having IQ Routing, but it may simply be a coincidence that my TomTom (with IQ Routes activated) now uses my "better" way.

 

[Krellan]

Over time, IQ Routing should take care of this problem for you, depending on those two roads. How do they differ? Length? Width? Stops? What makes your choice the better one?

They are all fairly local roads, not freeways, so I don't know if there would be enough other users for it to make a difference in the way IQ Routing calculates routes.

Lake Chabot Rd and Castro Valley Blvd are all fairly wide roads. At their intersection is a stoplight, and it's a fairly large intersection. The problem with the other roads is that they are small.

Somerset and Stanton are filled with stop signs, and Stanton is such a minor street compared to Castro Valley Blvd that the stoplight at Stanton very rarely allows traffic to flow onto Castro Valley Blvd from Stanton. So, folks on Stanton often end up waiting for longer than they would if they had just taken Lake Chabot Rd all the way. Visibility is poor from Stanton, so turning right into traffic often can't easily be done, unlike from Lake Chabot Rd where it's easy. You can check it out on Google Street View if you're curious (zipcode is 94546).

This is the stuff only a local would know, and the GPS device has no way of knowing this in advance.

 

[mvl]

It's due to a map bug.

The map isn't permitting a right turn from Lake Chabot Rd onto Castro Valley Blvd.

Go into mapshare turn restrictions, and disable the right turn (don't share it). Then go back into turn restrictions to reenable the right turn (this time share it).

Your tomtom will route fine after this correction.

 

[Krellan]

Your tomtom will route fine after this correction.

Thanks! I'll try it tomorrow when I'm at that location and can mark it.

Is there a way to edit map locations without having to be physically there in order to hit the "Mark location for map error" button on the TomTom?

 

[Ricochet]

Is there a way to edit map locations without having to be physically there in order to hit the "Mark location for map error" button on the TomTom?

Yes. First, Browse Map to the desired location, selecting a one of the roads at that intersection, then enter the Corrections Menu & select Turn Restrictions. The map should now target that intersection for the correction.

 

[mvl]

Menu -> Next Screen -> Map Corrections -> Correct a map error -> Change Turn Restrictions -> On Map.

Then you can move to the intersection before clicking done.

After the set restriction / remove restriction I recommended, you can also go to:
Menu -> Next Screen -> Route Planner to test that this works without even driving there.

 

[Krellan]

Menu -> Next Screen -> Map Corrections -> Correct a map error -> Change Turn Restrictions -> On Map.

Then you can move to the intersection before clicking done.

After the set restriction / remove restriction I recommended, you can also go to:
Menu -> Next Screen -> Route Planner to test that this works without even driving there.

Thanks, that worked! "Route Planner" is actually called "Prepare route" on my 930.

I plotted a route and it now includes the correct right turn. Shaved a few minutes off the journey!

 

[mvl]

Glad it worked for you.

This is the stuff only a local would know, and the GPS device has no way of knowing this in advance.

You'd be surprised how well IQroutes approximates local knowledge with its historical speed info. I had to do a zigzag to go diagonally through a suburban grid neighborhood, and I was amazed that IQroutes found a specific zigzag that had almost no stop signs. I drive there often and didn't know about the zigzag route it took.

I'm actually testing routes I drive all the time, to see what IQ does in demo mode. Then I've been trying tomtoms suggestions out. About 10% of the time IQroutes finds a better route than what I knew as a local.