Just an note to anyone using Route-able Open Street Maps. I am on the Big Island of Hawaii right now and I downloaded the route-able OSM - Hawaii ........to use in conjunction with my 100K Topo. While OSM looks OK, it obviously must be missing some routing information as it does not seem to recognize small sections of main highways and creates routes in bizarre ways to avoid these small segments of main highways. If you just follow the highway it can cause sufficient confusion that you get a route cannot be determined message and have to start over again after you have passed through that section of highway. I guess you get what you paid for? Just a observation for anyone planning on using an OSM..........check out some planned routing on BaseCamp before you get out on the road and have to rely on any OSM.
Yes...... I thought briefly about that, but there are so many problems that it might be easier to start over. The area around Hilo is a mess. Yuk! I have fallen back to using my road map skills.
Sounds like a missing road segment. I experience that sometimes even in Garmin City Navigator. In these cases I convert the route to a track and go in and edit the track to fix the problem and then navigate using the track. Like the guy said you have to be smarter than the machine. I looked into OSM a year or so ago. I checked dirt roads in some remote areas I know pretty well and found a few errors. It was enough to make me not want to rely on these maps in remote areas that I don't know. And my reaction was "You get what you pay for".
I have used OSM maps in Thailand and SE Asia for several years and they are quite good for the most part. But they do contain errors, as do Gamin maps. The difference is that anyone who cares to can fix the OSM errors. The OSM project is like Wikipedia in that it has the potential to replace Gamin maps just as Wikipedia has largely replaced printed encyclopedias. It's all done by thousands of volunteer mappers around the world, some of whom are very sophisticated programmers and geographers. Consequently the OSM map of the world is being continuously updated and corrected. I live in northern Chiang Mai, Thailand, and currently the OSM maps are more accurate than Google Maps in my neighborhood. Why? Because several map makers including myself live here and are working to add and correct the maps ourselves. Read my blog article for an intro and an explanation of how I got involved. The other night I was driving to a place I knew well but I used my GPS to route me there. As in your case I experienced a problem. The street I was traveling became one-way, for a single block, going in the opposite direction. After I got home I edited that street's properties. Next time I do that route, my GPS will be able to compute it correctly. If this sort of thing happens with a Garmin map you need to write them an email explaining it all. Then you can sit back and wait for a few months or years until the changes appear. My OSM edits will appear in a couple of weeks. And when they do, it's immensely satisfying.
A latent response, as an openstreetmap contributor. It is all based on community, remember that anyone can contribute, and some even go so far as to organise parties and events, or take it on as a hobby to go record power line, railroad or other routes. I have been known to add speedbumps to the maps 5 hours after they were completed, or remove phone booths the moment i see Telkom taking one down. I cannot vouch for routing, and I don't rely on it. I use my mind, and planning, solid planning. Maps are auxilliary to my trips, and in 90% of cases, OSM has more updated, latest data than google maps (especially with new offramps and stuff here in cape town). Rely on yourself, and preperation, and secondarily on electronics/maps. Also tread sensitively when the possibility exists of bringing down something a lot of us are working hard at, in our time and on our own costs. Disclaimer: Written in a friendly mood.
