Route Puzzle

Andy_P · Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 12:41 am Post subject:

Can't see why you're so upset about this. I can't imagine any of TomTom's competitors would do the route calculations any different.

And I don't see how you can say

mikealder · Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 12:42 am Post subject:

Delays while bording a ferry are not covered by HD Traffic as they generally don't occur on the road network (M20 stack operation is the exception to this one though) - Something that occurs on the dockside won't be read and relayed out via the Live service.

As for the fuel prices, to be honest save the storage space and remove the files from the device the service is useless and has been for some considerable time. I don't use it as its not trustworthy and a good proportion of the so called garages they list for the very low priced fuel don't even exist!

When informed of these facts TomTom asked even more ridiculous questions about the locations involved - I guess we could go out and geotagg photographs of the bogus fuel stations they claim to exist but I doubt they would know how to read the data - Nice idea but yet again failed in the implementation - Mike

Orac1 · Banned Joined: Apr 02, 2010 Posts: 38

Orac1 · Banned Joined: Apr 02, 2010 Posts: 38

Orac1 · Banned Joined: Apr 02, 2010 Posts: 38

After further investigation on the trip to Mallorca I notice that if I tell the 940 to avoid the Barcelona to Alcudia ferry that it does know about the Barcelona to Palma ferry service instead and uses that route. But TomTom has wrongly assumed the ferry journey time as being 9 hours, hence why it has been avoiding that route. In reality the fastest car catamarans from Barcelona to Palma cover the distance in only 3.5 hours.

It looks to me as though Tomtom just assumes a standard 19mph figure for a ferry speed depending on the sea distance to be crossed and that it has no knowledge of the actual ferry timetables.

This is not a theoretical point but a very real one as when I was driving up the coast of Norway 5 years ago to Nordkap I had no idea I would hit a fiord where there was no bridge and no ferry service crossing it for the next four hours. If the TomTom had an accurate ferry schedule then it might have planned an alternative route.

TomDavison · Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:11 am Post subject:

Personally, I like to arrive at the Ferry/Tunnel terminals ahead of time, use the facilities, have a coffee etc, so when travelling from home to Spain, I do it as separate journeys. One gets me to the Folkestone terminal at the time I want, and then an entirely separate journey which is fed in on the train to get me from the French Terminal to my first overnight hotel (preset as a favourite). At that hotel I pre-programme for the journey to my second overnight hotel, and finally the last day drive to the Villa.

Clearly, I could feed it in as one journey, with waypoints, but the timings would be meaningless, since I'm never going to arrive at my destination 23 hours after setting out.

Coming back, I do the same, aiming to arrive at Cite Europe with plenty of time to stock up on wine etc, and have a last continental meal before heading for the terminal. So whether Tom Tom does or does not factor in crossings, and how it does so is irrelevant.

Even in UK, for smaller journeys, if there is a ferry crossing, I split into two or more separate journeys, finishing at the terminal, and starting the second/third leg once I have docked.

Orac1 · Banned Joined: Apr 02, 2010 Posts: 38

mikealder · Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:34 am Post subject:

You will be very disapointed if you splash out on an iPhone as non of the GPS nav based apps are any different in use than the PND you currently have, they don't offer planning which is related in any way to departure times of boats or crossing times.

Sure you can get an app to show you boat departures etc but in no way will this information integrate with any Nav App on the same iPhone.

At the end of the day I am not aware of any GPS device/ software that will do what you need from it, I also very much doubt any of the manufactures will ever launch such a system and if they did it probably wouldn't work (based upon the history of add ins such as Fuel Prices etc) - Mike

BigPerk · Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:36 am Post subject:

Presumably there will come a time when ferry timetables are incorporated, but I would not wait around for it to happen a while yet! And keeping them up to date with the seasons, cancellations, diversions, etc is all going to be pretty demanding stuff.

I go with others on this, with splitting the journey. But this of course means planning and I know there are times when this might not be done - I entered a 'return' trip in the Lake District only to find myself at the Windermere crossover just after the ferry had left, because I hadn't set 'avoid ferries' (mind you, not quite in the fjord league). And of course it can be decidedly risky to force the routing to avoid 'essential' ferry crossings.

For this, I can only suggest with 'on the fly' navigation where water might well be in the way, that the turn-by-turn list at least is checked for any ferry-type entries.

And in any case, most times I would want to plan ahead because times and costs are often of crucial importance.
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David
(Navigon 70 Live, Nuvi 360)

TomDavison · Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 10:21 pm Post subject:

spook51 · Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:28 am Post subject:

Until SatNavs are able to incorporate the weather in their calculations surely all ferry-included times should be taken as approximate only? Same goes for industrial action I suppose; I read yesterday of a lorry driver whose Sea France ferry arrived at Calais only to sail in circles, taking six hours to complete the short crossing due to a strike - how do you factor that in?

MrT · Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 9:42 am Post subject:

Satnav guidance seems to need some sort of intelligent interpretation device on the end, some seem to be missing this feature.
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Drivelux

spook51 · Posted: Sun Apr 04, 2010 9:45 am Post subject:

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