shrug-l: RE: TomTom Address Points

Sykes, John John.Sykes at dep.state.fl.us
Tue Sep 3 16:48:59 EDT 2013


My experience with TomToms, Garmins, Goggle Maps, MapQuest and the like is that they all leave something to be desired.  Their address locating capabilities vary all over the place, and not just one from another, but within their own databases.  I think the reason is the old "Garbage in Garbage out."  E.g., depending on the skill of the person collecting and compiling the data you end up with big differences.

I ran into this problem years ago when I was compiling the locations where environmental samples had been taken during the Three Mile Island nuclear accident.  Some reported their positions accurately and some had no clue where they were taking their sample at.

This was mostly because the Feds, who were not from Pennsylvania, did not know the local geography and barely found their way back to the island (were it not for the steam from the cooling towers!).  I coauthored a paper on it and we said that, in the future, the environmental monitoring teams needed to be equipped with the brand new hand-held GPS units that were just coming on the market in the late 1980's or early 1990's.

It took me about 3 years to figure out that 20,000 environmental samples had been taken at approximately 1,800 unique locations (although almost none of the locations were described alike by any two teams) and some samples, well, we never did figure out where they were taken.

I do a lot of address mapping for my work here at DEP and find a great deal of variation from product to product.  Right now, I am finding that the DOR property parcel database has about the best statewide address data in Florida.  The county 9-1-1 services also have excellent local data.  Google Maps and MapQuest will put you in the right block . . . usually.

-- John



Please take a few minutes to share your comments on the service you received from the department by clicking on this link. DEP Customer Survey<http://survey.dep.state.fl.us/?refemail=John.Sykes@dep.state.fl.us>.
From: shrug-l-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us [mailto:shrug-l-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Keith Sandell
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 4:31 PM
To: 'shrug-l at lists.dep.state.fl.us'
Subject: shrug-l: TomTom Address Points

Anyone out there familiar with the accuracy and/or State of Florida coverage that TomTom Address Points have/include?

Not looking to buy anything like this, but I do have a need to understand its real world capabilities and/or its underlying source data; beyond the hype on the TomTom website.

Thanks

Keith Sandell, MBA, GISP
GIS Manager, Corporate Analytics
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation
2320 Killearn Center Blvd, Bldg D, Tallahassee, Florida 32309
-------------------------------------------------------
ofc. 850.521.8341   |   cell 850.727.2897

"If we are to achieve results never before accomplished we must expect to employ methods never before attempted." - Francis Bacon

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