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Who Makes MapQuest's Maps?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the just-a-couple-of-dudes dept.

carpoolio writes "TechTV has an interesting story about the company that builds the mapping technology behind popular map services like Mapquest. The company, Navigation Technologies, is decidedly low-tech in its approach to making its maps: two people in a car drive around endlessly, inputting street information and landmarks into databases. Navtech's map databases are used in everything from Garmin GPS units to Alpine in-dash auto navigation systems. So next time you turn the wrong way down a one-way street, know that there are real people behind the controls."

4 of 338 comments (clear)

  1. Collaborative mapping by asmithmd1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    With a GPS receiver in many cell phones we need to figure out how we all can collaborate on creating maps. Here is a map I created with the data from my cell phone over the course of a couple of months. If everyone contributed instead of the data from a few people driving around we could pool the collective data and have great, open maps. This service is free until the end of the year, if everyone who can signed up and we pool the locations we would have a great map (not to mention traffic info.)

    --
    Free cell phone tracking
    1. Re:Collaborative mapping by Mindragon · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oh great. I can see the phone calls from my ex now...

      Answering machine: "Thank you for calling. Leave a message. (BEEP)"

      Ex: "Hello? I know you're there! I just checked your tracking web blog and it says you're there! Pick up the damn phone! I want to talk to you now! Pick it up! Pick it up! God damn you pick up the damn phone now! Your tracking web blog says you're three feet from this answering machine so pick up the god damn phone now!"

      --
      Just add {In Space!} to anything.
  2. I'm surprised they don't use UPS, FedEx by The_Rippa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm suprised they don't strike up a deal with UPS, FedEx, and other companies that travel around alot that allows them to hook up receivers and use it to grab data that they can compare to their db.

    Should be easy to tell if a street is new, changed, or whatever. Then they'd just have to send someone out there to verify the new data.

    I'm actually surprised that this is how they do it. I've always assumed they hire people to drive over every road, but I figured there was a much better way to collect what I'm sure is a shitload of data.

  3. New Volunteer-created mapping system by bwaynef · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A lotta folks are saying they don't understand why theres not some huge network of volunteers that are helping out. I'd also think that this would be beneficial to the entire digitized world, but for the simple fact that I would not want my charity to be used by a company to make their $$. If however someone with more time/programming-skills than I decided they'd lend their time to building a free solution then I'm sure volunteers would pop out of the wood work. (Free as in, the cd's and data distributed by users who aren't searching on the web.)