14. Routing Engine Performance

One of the most critical components of any in-car GPS is the routing engine. Not surprisingly, it's also one of the most difficult things to get right, as there are so many variables to consider. The RoadMate 2200T ships with new NAVTEQ mapping data, so that is a major plus. The two largest mapping data providers are NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas. NAVTEQ is more accurate and complete in North America, so it's preferable to buy a GPS that uses NAVTEQ rather than Tele Atlas. Time and time again I find addresses that are either missing or incorrect in Tele Atlas' data, yet they are correct on NAVTEQ's maps.

That said, there is a lot more to routing than just the mapping data provider. How a given GPS will determine the "best" route is the result of not only the mapping data, but also how many additional data points, or attributes, are factored into the equation. For example, are certain roads closed after hours or on the weekend? What is the average rate of speed for a given road? Statistically speaking, more accidents happen when making left turns as opposed to right turns; is the GPS unit factoring that into the route? Each company takes all this data and compiles it in different ways. The number of attributes used varies depending on how much money the manufacturer is willing to spend.

How did the RoadMate 2200T's routing engine stack up? Let's take a look: For the first routing test, I entered a starting address in Connecticut, and a destination address of 135 Central Park West in New York City. I compared the route the 2200T calculated to that of the more expensive Garmin nuvi 660, Google Maps, and TomTom's GO 910.

From: Bridgewater, CT	To: 135 Central Park West, NYC, NY
Magellan RoadMate 2200T	Garmin nuvi 660	Google Maps
♦0.5 Right on Curtis Road ♦0.9 Left on Sarah Sanford Rd W ♦0.2 Right on CT-133, Main St S ♦5.8 Left on CT-25, Whisconier Rd ♦0.1 Right on CT-133, Junction Rd ♦0.7 Right on CT-133, Junction Rd ♦0.5 Left on Federal Rd ♦1.6 Left on White Turkey Rd ♦0.1 Merge US-7 S/Danbury ♦1.0 Continue Straight S US-7 ♦4.1 Bear Right on W I-84 ♦6.6 Exit 20/I-684 ♦0.1 Left I-684/White Plains ♦27 Left S I-684 ♦9.1 Left W Cross County Pkwy ♦2.4 Straight W Cross County Pkwy ♦0.3 Straight W Cross County Pkwy ♦2.1 Exit 2/New York City ♦0.2 Left Saw Mill River Pkwy ♦2.0 Right on S RT-9a/Henry Hudson ♦10 Exit Boat Basin/79 St ♦0.1 Roundabout W 79th St ♦0.2 Right on Riverside Dr ♦0.4 Left on W 72nd St ♦0.6 Left on Central Park West ♦0.1 Arrive at 135 Central Park West	♦0.5 Right on Curtis Road ♦0.2 Right on Christian St ♦0.8 Left on Sarah Sanford Rd W ♦0.2 Right on Main St ♦5.8 Left on Hwy 25 ♦110ft Keep right on Hwy 133 ♦0.7 Right on Hwy 133 ♦0.5 Left on Federal Rd ♦1.6 Left on White Turkey Rd ♦400ft, Right to US-7 S to Danbury ♦1.0, Keep right on US 7 S ♦4.1 Keep right onto I-84 W to N Y State ♦6.5 Exit 20 right to I-684 to New York City/White Plains ♦0.1 Keep left onto I-684 to New York City/White Plains ♦28 Exit 1 left to Hutchinson Pkwy to Whitestone Br ♦9.1 Exit 15 left to Cross County Pkwy to George Washington Br ♦2.7 Keep left on Cross County Pkwy W ♦2.0 Exit 1 left to Saw Mill Pkwy South to New York City ♦0.2 Keep left onto Saw Mill River Pkwy South ♦2.0 Keep right onto Henry Hudson Pkwy South ♦10 Right to 29 St to Boat Basin ♦500ft Take roundabout to 3rd exit ♦400 ft 3rd exit to 79th St ♦0.2 Right on Broadway ♦0.3 Left on 74th St ♦0.4 Right on Central Park W ♦120ft Arrive at 135 Central Park W on right	♦0.2 Turn right at Curtis Rd ♦0.8 Slight right at Christian St 0.8 ♦0.2 Turn left at Sarah Sanford Rd W ♦5.8 Turn right at CT-133 ♦108ft Turn left at CT-25/Whisconier Rd ♦0.7 Slight right at CT-133 ♦0.5 Turn right to stay on CT-133 ♦1.6 Turn left at Federal Rd ♦423ft Turn left at White Turkey Rd ♦3.6 Take the ramp onto US-7 S toward Danbury ♦8.0 Slight right at I-84 W ♦0.9 Take the I-684 exit 20 to White Plains/New York City, keep following signs ♦28.4 Merge onto I-684 S ♦7.7 Merge onto Hutchinson River Pkwy S ♦4.7 Slight left at Cross County Pkwy W toward George Washington Bridge ♦12.4 Merge onto RT-9A S via the Saw Mill Pkwy S exit 2 to New York City ♦495ft Take the 79 St exit to Boat Basin ♦0.6 At the traffic circle, take the third exit onto W 79th St ♦0.1 Turn right at Columbus Ave ♦0.2 Turn left at W 77th St ♦0.2 Turn right at Central Park W ♦Arrive at 135 Central Park W on Right
Total: 77 miles / 1hr 39 minutes	1 hour 26 minutes	77.2 miles / 1 hour 37 minutes

The results shown above are interesting: The RoadMate 2200T does a decent job routing here, choosing an acceptable route and doing a significantly better job than TomTom's routing engine. TomTom scored the worst in this test, choosing a route that was almost 25 minutes longer. To conserve space, I'm only showing the top 3 in the chart above. Although the Magellan performed acceptably, it was unable to match Garmin's outstanding routing engine or Google Maps' chosen route. Notice that the RoadMate actually has us arriving with the destination address on our left, meaning we would have to circle the block or make an illegal U-turn to actually arrive with the destination address on our right. The Garmin and Google Maps differ only slightly in their routes, and both get it right, navigating us in such a way that the destination is on our right. Also interesting is that although all three routed us basically along the same route, the Garmin is considerably more aggressive with its estimated travel time, shaving a full 10 minutes off Google's estimate, and 13 minutes shorter than Magellan's estimate. Having personally made this trip many times, the Garmin chose the route I would consider "best", although Garmin's time estimate is too optimistic -- the actual drive time tends to be close to 1 hour 40 minutes.

As a second test, I entered the same starting address in Connecticut, and as a destination address put 17 N. 6th Street, New Bedford, MA.

From: Bridgewater, CT	To: 17 N. 6th St, New Bedford, MA
Magellan RoadMate 2200T	Garmin nuvi 660	Google Maps
♦0.5 Left, Curtis Rd ♦0.9 Right, CT-67, New Milford ♦0.6 Right, CT-67, New ♦2.3 Right, Wellers Bridge Rd ♦1.3 Left, Church Street ♦0.1 Right, CT-67, Southbury ♦6.7 Right, US-6/Main St N ♦1.6 Merge, I-84 E/Waterbury ♦9.9 Straight, E I-84 ♦0.1 Straight, E I-84 ♦8.2 Right, Exit 27/I-691 ♦8.2 Straight, E I-691 ♦0.6 Left, Exit 11/I-91 ♦6.7 Right, Exit 22n-S/CT ♦0.2 Right, Exit 22s/CT-9 ♦28 Left, I-95 N/US-1 N ♦10 Right, N I-95 ♦50 Right, N I-95 ♦3.0 Straight, N I-95 ♦2.7 Straight, N I-95 ♦Right, Exit 20/I-195 E ♦16 Straight, E I-195 ♦2.4 Straight, E I-195 ♦10 Right, Exit 15/RT-18 S ♦1.0 Merge, Exit US-6/Dartmouth ♦1.0 Right, US-6/Dartmouth ♦0.2 Left, N 6th St ♦0.3 Arrive, 17 N. 6th St	♦0.5 Right on Curtis Road ♦0.2 Right on Christiana St ♦0.8 Left on Sarah Sanford Rd W ♦0.2 Right on Sarah Sanford Rd E ♦0.5 Right on Hut Hill Rd ♦3.0 Right on South St ♦1.8 Left on Purchase Brook Rd ♦0.7 Right on Spruce Brook Rd ♦1.9 Right on Britain Rd ♦2.3 Right onto I-84 E to Waterbury ♦12 Keep left on I-84 ♦300ft Keep right on I-84 E ♦8.2 Exit 27 right to I-691 E to Meriden/Middletown ♦8.7 Exit 11 left to I-91 N to Hartford/Springfield ♦6.7 Exit 22N-S right to CT-9 to Middletown/New Britain ♦0.2 Exit 22S right to CT-9 to Middletown ♦29 Keep left onto I-95 N/US-1 N to New London/Providence ♦11 Keep right onto I-95 to New London/Providence ♦51 Keep right on I-95 N ♦3.0 Keep left on I-95 N ♦5.9 Exit 20 right to I-195 E/US-6 E to Cape Cod/East Providence ♦19 Keep right onto I-195 E to New Bedford ♦11 Exit 15 right to RT-18 S to Downtown ♦1.0 Right to US-6 to Dartmouth/Fairhaven ♦400ft Keep right onto US-6 W to Dartmouth ♦0.2 Left to 6th St ♦0.2 Arrive at 17 N 6th St on right	♦0.2 Right at Curtis Rd ♦0.8 Slight right at Christian St ♦0.2 Turn left at Sarah Sanford Rd W ♦0.5 Turn right to stay on Sarah Sanford Rd E ♦ Turn right at Hut Hill Rd ♦ Continue on Minor Bridge Rd ♦0.7 Turn right at South St ♦1.1 Continue on Brown Brook Rd ♦0.7 Turn left at Purchase Brook Rd ♦1.9 Turn right at Spruce Brook Rd ♦2.3 Turn right at CT-172 ♦20.2 Turn right to merge onto I-84 E toward Waterbury ♦8.7 Merge onto I-691 E via exit 27 to Meriden/Middletown ♦6.7 Merge onto I-91 N via exit 11 to Hartford/Springfield ♦0.2 Take the CT-9 exit 22N-S to New Britain/Middletown ♦28.8 Take the right fork to CT-9 S/Middletown and merge onto CT-9 S ♦70.2 Merge onto I-95 N via the I-95 N/US-1 N exit to New London/Providence ♦29.2 Merge onto I-195 E via the I-195 E/US-6 E exit 20 to E Providence/Cape Cod ♦1.0 Merge onto RT-18 S via exit 15 to Downtown/New Bedford ♦0.3 Continue on John F Kennedy Memorial Hwy ♦0.3 Turn right at Elm St ♦0.1 Turn left at N 6th St ♦Arrive at 17 N 6th St New Bedford, MA 02740
Total: 178 miles / 3hrs 16 minutes	2 hours 54 minutes	178 mi (about 3 hours 15 mins)

On this test, the Garmin nuvi and Google Maps produced identical results (although Google is slightly more verbose in its instructions). All three chose identical routes once we were on a major highway. However, Magellan's RoadMate chooses a slightly different route getting us from the address in Connecticut to the I-84 highway onramp, although the Magellan route takes the same amount of time as Google and Garmin's. Again, Garmin's routing engine is more aggressive with its estimated travel time -- Garmin's estimate is 21 minutes shorter than Google Maps', despite the fact that they both have chosen the exact same route.

The routing engine on the RoadMate 2200T produced acceptable results, soundly beating TomTom and Alpine. In my opinion, Magellan's routing engine isn't quite as good as Garmin's, although it does come in a close 2nd place.

15. What About Real-Time Traffic?

The RoadMate 2200T doesn't come with integrated traffic capabilities right out of the box. Although the 2200T is touted as being "easily upgradeable" to include real-time traffic data, I could find no traffic features anywhere in the RoadMate's menu system, nor is there any mention of traffic data in Magellan's manual. Magellan says the life traffic feature will be available sometime within the next month or so. The traffic upgrade kit will cost $99 and will include 3 months of traffic data. After that, it'll cost you an annual subscription fee of $59.99.