TomTom Route Planner Beta

[RobertB]

I'm a programmer myself, so I didn't really hesitate when I fired up TTHome and it asked if I wanted to upgrade to a beta version. I didn't see anything different at first glance, except for a new option: "Plan a Route". The option also shows up when you click the System Tray icon.

It pulled up routes.tomtom.com, with the following blurb:

Route Planner
TomTom's online Route Planner is the best way to plan your trip online. It uses TomTom's expertise in navigation and smart mapping to give you the best information you need to plan ahead.

Live Traffic info
The traffic information shown on the Route Planner is live, so you can decide when to leave your home or office.

Smart routing
The Route Planner calculates your routes based on the real average speeds measured on roads. This will always provide you with the smartest route hour-by-hour, day-by-day, saving you time, money and fuel.

Most accurate map
The map is refreshed every day thanks to our Map ShareTM technology. This means that new changes on the roads spotted by members of the TomTom map community are taken into account when calculating your route.​

Sounds interesting! So I hit the "Register for Beta" link. But I'm not planning my routes yet:

Dear (me),

Thanks for registering to be part of the Beta programme of the TomTom Route Planner. Your registration has been sent to TomTom and you will be put on the list to try the Route Planner.

It is currently only open to a select group and it's great that you want to join. When it is your turn to try it out we will send you an invitation email. This is a new product introduction and so it is only possible to enter the Beta programme once you have received this email from TomTom. We contact you soon for your chance to try it out.

All the best,

The TomTom Team​

So now I wait to see if I get selected. I think I've got a good shot -- I've contributed plenty of MapShare corrections, and I'm pretty sure they've been correct -- though I've never gotten any of the feedback the app suggested I might get. Plus, I did install the beta TTH right away.

On the other hand, there's an excellent chance that my profile has been flagged as "[x] Online Forum Blabbermouth". Depending on how buggy their beta is, they may not want me reporting back.

I really want to try it, though. I've been a mapgeek since I was a little kid, back when the only stretch of road marked "I-40" was a couple of disconnected stretches in New Mexico (prompting me to ask my grandmother why it was called an "Interstate" when it didn't go into any other state yet). I'll even agree to an NDA, if I have to -- hopefully, I can at least say that I'm *in* the beta test!

 

[mvl]

I was let in to the beta after a couple of days. I'm not a huge mapsharer (I don't submit most of my U-turn edits, maybe they track "unsubmitted changes") so I doubt they used that to pick me. I'm guessing everyone gets in after a few days.

My initial feedback for route planner was that it did the same thing "plan route" does on the tomtom. The major issue with both compared to web competition such as google it the extreme precision it requires for address input.

eg:
no zip code-based addresses, eg "100 main st, 01234"
no "similar address" recommendation if it can't find something
no language-based single line entry, eg: "100 main st, 01234 to 150 south street 01234"

 

[RobertB]

I got my approval, and found a bug right away. I work in a suburb, and the address could conceivably belong to the next suburb over, but that would be about 3 miles away. Entering my address brought up a choice of two addresses... both of which were exactly the same. And both of which linked to the wrong one. The address doesn't give any trouble on my unit or on any other mapping service.

I reported the issue, which looks like a typical shakeout period glitch.

I'm looking forward to using it tonight, to see if it can do anything for planning around traffic jams.

 

[mvl]

Hope it works for you.

If you're a true map geek, you should really invest in a GO model. Watching IQroutes change directions based on time-of-day and watching the tomtom's route demo actually slow down on stop signs and stop lights is a geek's dream.

You can see the time-of-day direction changes on the online route planner. I wish they added the route demo and advertised its availability on GO models. That would really sell more tomtoms.