Dan Warne02 February 2010, 6:10 PM
A bug in Google Maps Australia is forcing people down costly toll roads whether they like it or not.
Google has admitted its Australian Maps service has been sending people down tollroads even when they ask not to, potentially costing people unnecessary toll fees.
The problem, as described by users in many online complaints, is that in Melbourne and Sydney (and possibly other cities), although Google Maps has an "avoid tolls" option when calculating a route, it merrily sends people down tollroads anyway.
The problem appears not to be a problem with the maps -- as shown below, the roads are clearly marked as tollroads on the calculated route. It simply appears to be a bug in Google's software.
Google Australia spokesperson Annie Baxter said the company would look into the problem but could not promise when a fix might be provided.
The problem has been highlighted by Australian users in numerous posts on Google's online help forum.
"Every time I use directions in Google Maps, it will send me through one of the tollways in Melbourne (Citylink or Eastlink). When I select the "Avoid Tolls" option, the directions remain the same, and will not deviate from the tollways. Can you please fix this?" wrote one user, "Greatfox".
"Anything? No? Can you please fix this as it's INCREDIBLY frustrating," he said in a later post.
Another user, Maunster, pointed out that there seemed to be little point posting in Google's forums as nobody from Google ever seemed to take notice or reply.
Google has struggled in recent months as it tries to transform itself from a company that makes a great search engine to one that sells consumer products, along with the adequate personal tech support.
Errors such as these will be crucial for Google to fix as phones with Android 2.0 operating system come to market in Australia. Android 2.0 provides turn-by-turn navigation as part of the package price.
Providers of dedicated GPS devices met the news of Google's routing problem with bemusement.
"TomTom works closely with our map provider in Australia (Sensis) to ensure that are map data is as up to date, accurate and complete as possible. Sensis works constantly and invest heavily to update and refine their maps and TomTom always brings these changes to the market quickly," said Chris Kearney, Marketing Manager for TomTom.
"One of the map and routing features available on TomTom GPS units is avoid toll roads. We monitor changes - the latest to come to our attention is the removal of the M4 toll on Feb 15th. This will be adjusted in the next TomTom map," he said.
Wendy Hammond, Marketing Manager at Navman said, "As a dedicated GPS maker, our primary objective is creating the best possible navigation experience for the driver. Our maps, supplied by worldwide leader in mapping data Navteq, have a level of road and driving specific detail that might not be present in other more generic maps."
"Our Tollroad data is supplied by Navteq but the algorithms that enable the user to decide whether they want to travel through a tollway, or to avoid it and choose a different route option, are part of our own mapping software."