TomTom Speeds and Routings

[SimonCatlin]

Having now used TomTom Nav 5 for a month and seen all the tweaks etc..one of the major issues is that the system does not allow customisation of speeds, based on the road type.

I have two theories here.
1. [cynical mode] it was kept back for TTN6 [/cynical mode]
2. They decided to use the speeds based on the maximum speed that you are travelling on. e.g. you are on a Motorway or Dual Carriage way - 70 mph, National Speed Limit road (e.g. backwater roads) - 60 mph etc. right down to 30 mph in the streets and I think the information they are using has been provided by TeleAtlas.

I have tried the second theory in practice. I set off to Wales from London the other day and drove at 70 mph for one hour. The arrival time did not change. Slowed down to 60 for 30 minutes (allowing for the 40 mph bit near Chippenham) and the time increased. Accelerated to 80 mph (once out of Wiltshire!) and the time to destination reduced.


Mapopolis uses the same scheme and of course this does not allow for parts of the M25 (the World's largest car park), congestion charging etc and in America I found this quite useful, BUT the time displayed for arrival at the destination is the legal time, not allowing for traffic lights, accidents, terroist attacks etc. This then encourages speeding, as we all believe our little numbers.

Now this theory is not scientific, as of course traffic got in the way and occassionally a heavy right foot, but does anyone else have any proof of this or any other theory?
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iPhone5, TomTom, Google maps, Navfree, Viewranger and Apple Maps (ekk)

[linknet]

I'm not sure what routing algorithm TTN5 is using but it could certainly do with improvement and allow for customisation by the user.

The method previously used by TTN3 of modifying the road speeds to acheive the required result is not strictly correct.

To get the best results a lot of navigation software uses road speeds combined with road preferences. The road speed determines the speed at which you would travel should you use that road and should not be altered just to modify the route taken. The road preference is a weighting factor for each road type and is applied in conjunction with the road speed to determine the calculated route. Navigon 5, for example, also has different settings for each of these parameters depending on whether you are in, or outside, a built up area (Only able to be modified by an add-on at present).

What we need is access to all of these settings in TTN5 to be able to improve the routing to suit or own particular requirements.

I'm fed up of being routed down extremly narrow roads and would like a method to correct this.

Roger

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