For around a month, both Apple Maps and Google Maps routed eastbound drivers around I-90 construction in Washington State, sending them down dirt roads where they got stuck and had to be towed.
It's a decade since errors in Apple Maps were being described as life-threatening, but it's still possible for changes in real-world conditions to not be represented on the map. From early October 2022 to November 10, 2022, seeming all online maps and GPS route devices were tripped up by construction work.
According to the Seattle Times, the problem began as Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) worked on widening the I-90 from four to six lanes between Hyak and Easton, in Kittitas County. That work required eastbound traffic to be shifted onto a stretch of the westbound side of the freeway.
The mapping services would first have identified that traffic was being slowed down in the area. The way online maps work, every section of road effectively gets a score to do with its length and traffic conditions, and at some point dirt roads and Forest Service roads were being identified as the better route.
WSDOT spokesperson Summer Derrey told the Seattle Times that as the construction work is due to take up to five years, the department had attempted to contact Apple Maps and Google Maps.
"We recognize there's a problem," she said. "We've been emailing them. [But the] mapping services are not easy to get a hold of."
Reportedly neither Apple nor Google responded to WSDOT. However, both mapping services appeared to fix the problem by November 10, 2022.
15 Comments
I reported a problem on apple maps where directions told cars to turn into a bus only turn.
(camera to catch offenders).
The problem was fixed within 2 days.
And this happened with human drivers. Think what could happen with AI telling AI cars where to turn. 😳
Not familiar with that particular construction zone, but I'd bet the detours are signed and the drivers would just meed to pay a little bit of attention instead of blindly following the navigation instructions. One might think the instructions may not be as current in a construction zone.
This wouldn't be the only place navigation is wrong. With many freeways under construction, mapping software can't keep up with the temporary lane changes. Also in WA, I've seen Maps send me off the freeway when I know my lane keeps going but it makes it look like I'm on the wrong side of the freeway. If anyone has driven on the HOV lane through downtown Seattle (which does underground for a bit) you know not to follow the directions because it thinks you're above ground on a side street. People simply need to follow signs and use judgment when driving. As for AI, my hope is it will be smart enough to read signs including detours to keep you on the road. Of course, road construction will be the most difficult thing to program into any autonomous driving system.
As far as the Snoqualmie Pass, they're also adding wildlife overpasses to save both the animals and people.
There are nearly 64,373,760km (40,000,000 miles) of roads on earth. GPS giving a detour where some drivers took that route then got stuck during constriction seems like a non story.