Routing

[1776]

Why is it that when I set Avoid the Use Freeways it still routes me on to parkways and expressways when there are direct street routes possible? I tried to route with limited speed limits all the way down to 25mph and it still wanted to put me on the parkways and expressways. If I was driving a truck in this state I would be in big trouble.

The best I could do was set the parkway and expressway as avoid these specific roads in the route, but that can be a pain going through the route two or three times to get each one out - as it still seeks to find another one to use.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

If you're always driving a restricted vehicle when using your TomTom, you may be able to make some Map Share corrections that will get you the results you're looking for. If you make Map Share corrections and change the speed limits on the roads you need to avoid to ZERO (or maybe ONE if it doesn't allow zero) it should avoid those roads when calculating the fastest route.

With the latest version of the software (8.300 for the Go 920 at this time - I didn't notice which model you have) I don't know how the vehicle type you select will effect how/if these changes are shared. I used to make changes specific to my vehicle and NOT share them.

Be advised though, that if you update your maps you'll almost certainly lose these changes and have to re-enter them.

 

[1776]

What is the point of having settings for Avoid Freeways and Use Limited Speed Limits if the routing is going to ignor them? All settings seem to put out the same routing - regardless of what is specified. If you set the limited speed limit route to 25 mph, what good is a routing on 55 mph roads?

I have a One XL-S with the latest software update as of two days ago. There is no selection of vehicle type.

I don't want to change the maps because I don't always use it in a restricted vehicle. But there are times when I do not want to get on a parkway. I was hoping that Avoid Freeways or at least use roads of no more than 25mph would do this. If I am near home I can just not take them and hope that the re-reroute will take me where I need to go. If I am in another state, then there will be a problem.

 

[pianoCM]

Bear in mind, your local knowledge is 1001 times better than any low/high-end GPSs.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

Most likely the "Avoid Freeways" setting doesn't work as (you) expected because TomTom's definition of "freeway" differs from yours. I don't mean to imply that either definition is correct or incorrect, just that they differ. I have yet to figure out what TomTom's definition is, but here's what I found at Answers.com:

A freeway — also known as a highway, superhighway, autoroute, autobahn, autopista, autov?a, autostrada, dual carriageway, expressway, or motorway — is a type of road designed for safer high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections. This is accomplished by preventing access to and from adjacent properties and eliminating all cross traffic through the use of grade separations and interchanges; railroad crossings are also removed. Such highways are usually divided with at least two lanes in each direction. Because traffic never crosses at-grade, there are generally no traffic lights or stop signs.

This seems to generally agree with what I would think, based on my experience this is NOT what TomTom considers a freeway.

Regarding limited speed routing, I believe that this assumes a maximum speed for your vehicle, which will change the duration of your trip, and MAY change your routing if traveling (at that speed) on faster roads no longer provides the fastest route. I don't think it is intended to restrict roadway selections based on speed limit of the roadway.

I know that none of this helps with your situation, but I thought it was worth clarifying.

I did at one time consider having two sets of maps - one I would modify (speed limits, road closures, etc) for my work van, and one I would leave unchanged for use in a passenger vehicle. I never followed through with this idea though because the frequency of map updates would cause me to re-do the edits too often.

As it is right now I think TomTom is headed in the direction of allowing users to specify their vehicle type and have the device adjust the routing accordingly. Unfortunately it also appears that they are going in the same direction as Garmin, using vague terms such as car, van and truck, without giving any indication of what these terms actually mean or how they will affect routing.

Vehicle-based restrictions are a very complicated thing, and to do it right requires taking many factors into account, including: vehicle weight, vehicle height, vehicle length, number of axles, number of wheels, maximum vehicle speed, registration type, visibility of approaching traffic at sharp turns, transportation of hazardous materials, etc. I would be surprised if any manufacturer actually implemented something that took even a fraction of these things into account.

In the meantime it would help a great deal if TomTom would adopt a more universally accepted definition of "freeway".

 

[1776]

Of course, the simplest way to implement it would be for the Avoid Freeways setting to actually not route onto limited access roads.

The definition that you have listed Michael is pretty much my understanding of Freeways. It would be nice if it was TomTom's definition also.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

Of course, the simplest way to implement it would be for the Avoid Freeways setting to actually not route onto limited access roads.

The definition that you have listed Michael is pretty much my understanding of Freeways. It would be nice if it was TomTom's definition also.

I can't argue with you there.

 

[PatrickF]

will not avoid freeways

I know this thread is a little old, but I thought that I'd post my issue also. I just got a 140-s. I had an older model originally and it worked great at avoiding freeways. Now with this new model sometimes it routes me on freeways. Now I know the whole definition of a freeway is in question here. But I live in LA, and sometimes it routes me onto the 405, the 110, the 105. Now I KNOW that these are freeways. Maybe Tom Tom thinks these are unavoidable (funny, but untrue). And again my older model Tom Tom One didn't have this problem. Anybody else?

 

[dhn]

Are you picking the 'fastest' route or the 'shortest'?

 

[PatrickF]

neither

Neither. Screen comes up to ask me "what type of route should be planned?"
* Fastest route
*Shortest route
*Avoid freeways
*Walking route
*Bicycle route
*Limited Speed.

I pick *Avoid freeways.

Seems like Fastest route, Avoid freeways, and limited speed (40) all put me on the freeway.

 

[MartyXB]

Of course, the simplest way to implement it would be for the Avoid Freeways setting to actually not route onto limited access roads.

The definition that you have listed Michael is pretty much my understanding of Freeways. It would be nice if it was TomTom's definition also.

My gut feeling is that the problem here is Tele Atlas, I think that their database is incomplete compared to Navteq since all GPS that use Navteq (that I have tried) all avoid highways/freeways/expressways when activated. I have tried Garmin, Magellan and Motonav.

This is a big issue if you are driving in a major city which has major traffic backups during rush hour and you would simply like to avoid the expressway (or whatever you want to call it) network.