NAVTEQ announced that it has reached a major pedestrian milestone of one hundred cities for its NAVTEQ Discover Cities product including expanded coverage for Mexico City.
As one of the largest cities in the world and home to the largest Spanish speaking population, Mexico City is a key destination for business and pleasure making it a natural extension of the NAVTEQ Discover Cities coverage footprint. Whether a local, a business traveler, or a tourist, Discover Cities enables unique pedestrian navigation experiences by adding detail to the NAVTEQ Map.
NAVTEQ works closely with public transit operators to source information on schedules and the entrances and exits to transit stations to help application providers deliver the best routing options. For example an attendee to the FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Mexico and El Salvador to be played at Azteca stadium could receive instructions to take the south Mexico City train from their hotel on Avenida Vera Cruz.
This achievement is also significant given the sheer depth and complexity of the pedestrian navigation data NAVTEQ specialists collect, based on a single, global specification. While walking the world’s cities, these specialists meticulously collect more than 50 pedestrian-specific attributes.
A key benefit of NAVTEQ’s robust specification and "feet on the street" is the inclusion of pedestrian "shortcuts" that can be used to save time. These shortcuts may be via unmarked paths through parks, plazas or even publicly accessible buildings.
Without this additional data, applications may generate a route that involves only sidewalks when significantly shorter options are possible in reality. For example, a pedestrian walking to an address on Avenida Hildago would be provided directions that illustrate a path through Alameda Central originating from Avenida Juarez. This short-cut saves the traveler both time and energy.
Additionally the pedestrian map would display a 3D Landmark representation of the Palacio de
Bellas Artes adding to the pedestrians’ confidence that they are heading in the right direction to their final destination.