Significant enhancements have been made to three different road and street-level map data sets offered at allmapdata.com, the online digital data store from MapMechanics. These road and street-level maps are widely used in geographic information systems and logistics solutions for processes such as route-planning, drive time analysis and navigation.

The enhancements reflect a constant drive by the company to offer a wide choice of GIS digital data sets through allmapdata.com, each with different benefits, giving users the maximum opportunity to find the data that best suits their particular task.

MapMechanics has added more detailed information about grade-separated junctions (where one road passes over or under another) to AA vector road-level mapping, which is used extensively in routing and drive time analysis. While these junctions were already identified before, there is now a separate field that allows the information to be used in calculations such as route planning. This change can also be used to enhance the way the maps are displayed.

When street maps are used for journey time calculations, the speeds associated with each road segment are extremely important. MapMechanics has therefore added new speed fields and urban/rural splits to the allmapdata.com version of Ordnance Survey’s OS Meridian 2 data.

The two speed fields are allocated to cars and trucks, giving more precision to drive-time and routing calculations. The urban/rural split makes it possible to attach different speeds to each road segment according to its category.

Finally NAVTEQ Premium Streets data, which is used widely for routing and scheduling and delivery planning, now includes major new road construction projects such as the one where the A64 and B1248 intersect at Malton, North Yorkshire. It is also possible to take road directions and address ranges from the data and display this information on the map.

All these data sets can be configured where necessary for use with specific GIS or analysis software under MapMechanics’ Process Promise scheme, which concentrates on enhancing data to make it faster, easier and more efficient to incorporate in software applications.

The Process Promise mantra, which is applied whenever possible, is: “We process it so you don’t have to.” As an example, if vector mapping is supplied for a routing application, it needs to be configured correctly to ensure that the roads are linked together, and it must allow the user’s chosen system to distinguish between roads that genuinely meet (at a crossroads, for instance) and those that cross each other by bridge or tunnel, and don’t actually meet.

All the updated data sets are supplied and supported by MapMechanics, and are available direct from the company or through http://www.allmapdata.com, its transactional data web store.