The MapQuest Horror: Fails In Times of Need
May 21, 2007
A couple delayed their wedding when bad directions led the groom’s parents astray. A pallbearer got lost on the way to his friend’s funeral service. A dejected bachelor missed dinner reservations with a date when he couldn’t find the restaurant.
These misguided travelers all used MapQuest, the site that provides inefficient detailed maps and driving directions for millions of locations worldwide. Some do not even EXIST! For example: Allentown PA. Traveling East on 22, the directions say take exit 54 into the city. Exit 54 is 15 years removed and was replaced with MacArthur Road.
Should we blame infamous lack of responsibility of the Postal Service?
Much of MapQuest’s address information is derived from postal information. But the U.S. Post Office doesn’t officially recognize a street until it is dedicated, so it can take up to year or longer to add a new road to the database. MapQuest does a major data update at least once every three months, which may include thousands of street segments that were not there before.
Millions of frustrated travelers complain on blogs stating that MapQuest just clearly sucks! If you have somewhere important to go, you should consider using a GPS unit or even Google Maps. Why is Google Maps more reliable? Data Integrity could be the key…If you have a MapQuest Horror Story please let us know..we want to get the word out!
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