POOR MAPPING and our unique addressing system has meant Irish drivers have been slow to embrace satellite navigation, but things have changed recently with sat-nav now a viable alternative to the traditional map, writes KYLE FORTUNE
An electronic device that could save your marriage: that’s how sat-nav manufacturers should market their clever little electronic boxes.
That little voice coming from the device stuck to your windscreen – or integrated into your car’s dashboard if you’ve loads of money – relieves both driver and passenger of the responsibility of map-reading.
Anyone familiar with the first sat-nav systems to reach Ireland may dispute this. Irish roads and unique addressing systems have meant that electronic maps, although commonplace across Europe, have been late to arrive in Ireland.
But recent years have seen Ireland’s roads properly mapped for their drivers. The big players in the sphere of digital maps having driven every road, noting directions, street names, signage, usage restrictions and a host of other data to allow the little electronic box you buy for as little as a few hundred euro to make a decent stab at getting you where you want to go.
The mapping revolution in Ireland is recent: one of the biggest map suppliers, Navteq, only fully digitised the country in 2006, and this was no small task, thanks to Ireland’s official postal destination hierarchy, based on townlands.
To put that into perspective, Ireland’s base electronic map (from which sat-nav systems draw to guide you) needed over 50,000 defined localities for just four million inhabitants.
Compare that to the UK with a population of 60 million people, which requires only 26,000 localities. Consider, too, that a name like Cashel features over five times in the Republic. Add more road kilometres per head than almost anywhere in Europe and it’s hardly surprising that Ireland has taken so long to map.
The job of doing so was down to Navteq Geographical Analyst Ronan McGurren and his team at the Irish regional office – one of over 190 offices worldwide.
Now that’s done, McGurren faces a daily routine of keeping that information up to date, with his team almost constantly on the road checking, updating and redefining routes to ensure the base map is as correct as possible.
Doing so requires more than merely driving every kilometre of Ireland in one of Navteq’s unique GPS data-logging and camera-equipped vehicles, but demands plenty of communication with Government agencies, road developers, county councils and service providers.
McGurren describes mapping as “a moving target”, stating that “Ireland was one of Navteq’s biggest recent projects, with 10-12 people out on the road for over nine months, gathering data”.
That gathering continues on a daily basis, McGurren’s team only recently surveyed in advance road links like the €20 million bridge in Donegal, as well as the realigned sections of the M50 and M8.
Dublin’s new time-restricted zone system will also feature in the latest map updates, where between 7am-10am and 4pm-7pm, cars won’t be able to use certain routes. The maps underpinning your sat-nav will feature these updates.
It’s been a long time coming, admits GPS expert, Gary Delaney. As consultant for GPS Ireland, Delaney knows well the problems of creating a digital map of Ireland. His company can offer position-orientation navigation (PON) codes, a longitude-latitude reference that creates an easy “postcode” to use with satellite navigation systems.
Postcodes have long been a talking point in Ireland, not least because of the growth of web retailing.
With companies like Amazon growing in popularity in Ireland, the demand for simple addressing has never been stronger, although official legislation has been slow to arrive.
Delaney sees the growth of satellite navigation as a good thing in Ireland – and he’s not just talking about keeping peace between driver and front seat passenger. Economically, sat-nav offers huge benefits to business, with courier companies traditionally avoiding collection and drops from Irish home addresses.
He quotes a University of Newcastle study that highlighted that, in the UK, sat-nav in multi-drop vehicles could save around 14 per cent in fuel costs. In Ireland, that could be as much as 25 per cent.
It’s thought that around €20 million a year alone could be saved in administration costs if postcodes were implemented, too. It’s little wonder, then, that businesses are interested in satnav, particularly as web-based buying becomes even more commonplace. There are obvious benefits for the emergency services, as well.
But for consumers, the sat-nav revolution has finally arrived in Ireland. It’s certain that sales will grow as people see and experience the benefits, with plenty of choice out there for buyers.
Two main types exist for use in your car: a factory-fitted system added to the specification at the time of buying, or a separate, portable system that sticks to your windscreen or an air vent. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
A fully integrated manufacturer-supplied system looks great and works with all the car’s existing controls. It’s also very difficult to pinch and doesn’t require plugging into power outlets like portable systems do. They’re expensive though – a typical system for a Ford Mondeo costs from €2,000 to almost €4,000.
That’s considerably more than the €200 portable systems, with the additional benefit of having the very latest mapping information, while factory fitted systems may be several years old depending on the model of car it’s fitted to.
Aside from saving your bank balance, portable systems are useful thanks to their portability – you can buy one and use it in any car. They’re easy to update, too, while many of the fully integrated manufacturer systems require expensive updates through time.
They’re also simple to use, with manufacturers such as Garmin, Tom Tom and many others including touchscreen address inputting, Bluetooth integration, point of interest finding and many other features. For the money they cost, they’re a marvel.
And who knows, they might just keep you on speaking terms with your passenger, too.