I live in the metro Washington DC area, and NONE of the mapping programs, or print maps do much good. Even with a map, it is difficult to impossible to navigate the area.
None of them tell about the many, many roads and exits that close, open or change direction , or are HOV-only based on time of day. And, none will tell you that as soon as you get on the beltway, you need to cross 6 lanes of traffic in that one mile to exit!
Navigation by trial and error is the only way to do it, unfortunately. No public, private, or user database can cure that, not without lots more information.
I won't even start on the "normal" traffic problems: construction, flooding, wrecks, parades, snipers, man on tractor, potholes, rubbernecking, terror alerts, bright sun, sinkholes, amber alert, rain, snow, etc.
Anytime someone wants to visit me, I give them very detailed instructions, and I specifically tell them to not trust ANY mapping service completely. It may, without making an actual mistake, send you down a street that is HOV, that has changed direction, under construction, with a closed HOV exit, during rush-hour, in a not so safe part of town. The map may be 100% accurate, and miss all of this.
Slashdot Mirror
I live in the metro Washington DC area, and NONE of the mapping programs, or print maps do much good.
Even with a map, it is difficult to impossible to navigate the area.
None of them tell about the many, many roads and exits that close, open or change direction , or are HOV-only based on time of day. And, none will tell you that as soon as you get on the beltway, you need to cross 6 lanes of traffic in that one mile to exit!
Navigation by trial and error is the only way to do it, unfortunately. No public, private, or user database can cure that, not without lots more information.
I won't even start on the "normal" traffic problems: construction, flooding, wrecks, parades, snipers, man on tractor, potholes, rubbernecking, terror alerts, bright sun, sinkholes, amber alert, rain, snow, etc.
Anytime someone wants to visit me, I give them very detailed instructions, and I specifically tell them to not trust ANY mapping service completely. It may, without making an actual mistake, send you down a street that is HOV, that has changed direction, under construction, with a closed HOV exit, during rush-hour, in a not so safe part of town. The map may be 100% accurate, and miss all of this.
Thanks for reading.