It is amazing just how far out of date many satnav maps are, even on the latest systems. Companies like TomTom, TeleAtlas and Navteq have procedures where the end user (you and me) can report mistakes but even using these it can often take months or years for the changes to actually make it into the maps we see in our navigation products.
There is a new company on the block who want to change all that by using social mapping to get the latest updates as you drive around. They also provide a mechanism for reporting of hold ups again in realtime. The negative to all this though is that the maps in their current format are not suitable for any serious navigation within the UK until more of the country is mapped by driving around and then someone tidying up these GPS trails to make usable maps.
I recently started the process of mapping Evesham and the surrounding area. In the past month the majority of the town has been mapped with only the housing estate roads of Four Pools left. Once this is completed I plan on moving further out into the villages. Like all community driven projects though, the more people who are working on it the better the end result, whether that be those who just drive around with Waze running or those who then spend time tidying up the maps (and adding those all important road and town names)
If anyone else wants to become involved with Wazing their local area, a quick visit to Waze will explain more. The application can be downloaded for most major smartphones – Windows Mobile, Android, Symbian and iPhone, either direct from Waze for those devices which allow third party apps or from the device app stores (including opnmarket on Windows Mobile)