2014 AAA Road Atlas

[ssummers72]

I just picked up the 2014 AAA Road Atlas, here are some changes since the last edition:

Alabama:
Has I-22 marked along US-78

Arkansas:

Has a dashed line for the BVB bypass and the short segment of Ark-549 in southern Miller County
In the Texarkana area on US-59 on the Texas side has an I-369 marker

California:

CA-905 is shown as complete in San Diego area

Illinois/Indiana
Chicago Metro Area:
Cline is shown as a dashed line between the Steel Mills and Calumet Ave (They removed the bridge completely)
No indication of IL-110 along the East-West Tollway or the Eisenhower Expy.

Indiana:
I-69 is shown complete from I-64/164 to US-231 and UC to Bloomington
US-231 bypass around Lafayette is shown as complete
Yet, IN-25 is not shown as complete between Lafayette and Logansport

Louisiana:
I-49 shown as complete between LA-1 and the AR/LA State Line North of Shreveport

Missouri:
I-49 shown along US-71 from Kansas City to Pineville
St Louis inset shows New Mississippi River Bridge UC

New York:

No I-781 near Watertown
US-15 not shown complete south of I-86

North Carolina:

I-73 shown as complete from Elllerbe to Bryan Blvd in GBO
I-74 shown as complete between Asheboro and WS
The Western Wake Tollway (Fwy) is complete from I-40 to NC-55

Texas:

I-2,I-69C and I-69E are shown as signed in the Brownsville area (Also shown on the main US map)

I-69 is shown North and SW of Houston

In Ft Worth, TX-121 Tollway is shown as open from Downtown South to Cleburne


The big surprise for me was the Texas changes

[PHLBOS]

Not sure if the 2014 Altas picked up these changes/errors, but the newest Boston, Massachusetts (& vicinity) fold-out road map has 2 noticable changes; one of them being an error/major fail (IMHO).

1.  The overall vicinity map has deleted all MA 128 and MA 3 markers from the Interstate-occupied segments (although the enlarged Boston map still includes MA 3 markers along the Artery tunnel & Southeast Expressway).

2.  On the enlargement for the City of Boston; there's an I-20 marker placed along Commonwealth Ave. (next to a MA 2 marker).  Major fail on AAA's part.

[bob7374]

Not sure if the 2014 Altas picked up these changes/errors, but the newest Boston, Massachusetts (& vicinity) fold-out road map has 2 noticable changes; one of them being an error/major fail (IMHO).

1.  The overall vicinity map has deleted all MA 128 and MA 3 markers from the Interstate-occupied segments (although the enlarged Boston map still includes MA 3 markers along the Artery tunnel & Southeast Expressway).

2.  On the enlargement for the City of Boston; there's an I-20 marker placed along Commonwealth Ave. (next to a MA 2 marker).  Major fail on AAA's part.

I-20 or US 20? A US 20 sign or two has shown up occasionally on other maps. The official MassDOT map of a couple years ago had MA 30 co-routed with MA 2 along Comm Ave. And as I posted recently To US 20 and MA 30 shields have appeared along MA 2 West approaching Kenmore Square.

IMHO US 20 should continue along the current MA 2 route to Arlington St, while it should be MA 2 ending at Kenmore.

[PHLBOS]

Not sure if the 2014 Altas picked up these changes/errors, but the newest Boston, Massachusetts (& vicinity) fold-out road map has 2 noticable changes; one of them being an error/major fail (IMHO).

1.  The overall vicinity map has deleted all MA 128 and MA 3 markers from the Interstate-occupied segments (although the enlarged Boston map still includes MA 3 markers along the Artery tunnel & Southeast Expressway).

2.  On the enlargement for the City of Boston; there's an I-20 marker placed along Commonwealth Ave. (next to a MA 2 marker).  Major fail on AAA's part.

I-20 or US 20? A US 20 sign or two has shown up occasionally on other maps. The official MassDOT map of a couple years ago had MA 30 co-routed with MA 2 along Comm Ave. And as I posted recently To US 20 and MA 30 shields have appeared along MA 2 West approaching Kenmore Square.

IMHO US 20 should continue along the current MA 2 route to Arlington St, while it should be MA 2 ending at Kenmore.

Bob, it clearly was an I-20 shield.  Go to any AAA store and check out 2013/2014 edition of the above-map yourself to verify.

Check your FB e-mail, I sent you a PDF scan of the map (portion).

[Henry]

Not sure if the 2014 Altas picked up these changes/errors, but the newest Boston, Massachusetts (& vicinity) fold-out road map has 2 noticable changes; one of them being an error/major fail (IMHO).

1.  The overall vicinity map has deleted all MA 128 and MA 3 markers from the Interstate-occupied segments (although the enlarged Boston map still includes MA 3 markers along the Artery tunnel & Southeast Expressway).

2.  On the enlargement for the City of Boston; there's an I-20 marker placed along Commonwealth Ave. (next to a MA 2 marker).  Major fail on AAA's part.

I-20 or US 20? A US 20 sign or two has shown up occasionally on other maps. The official MassDOT map of a couple years ago had MA 30 co-routed with MA 2 along Comm Ave. And as I posted recently To US 20 and MA 30 shields have appeared along MA 2 West approaching Kenmore Square.

IMHO US 20 should continue along the current MA 2 route to Arlington St, while it should be MA 2 ending at Kenmore.

Bob, it clearly was an I-20 shield.  Go to any AAA store and check out 2013/2014 edition of the above-map yourself to verify.

Clearly, I'd hate to see how they do Atlanta

[briantroutman]

I have to wonder about AAA's cartography operation. I worked for a few summers as an auto travel counselor with AAA North Penn, making TripTiks and planning routes. One year, the national office sent us a questionnaire asking us to review the AAA state map and note any inaccuracies or changes in our service area. Of course the office manager brought it to me being the most roadgeek-y. The map had a bunch of errors, many involving interchanges on the US 15 freeway north of Williamsport. I noted them in detail, and we sent the completed questionnaire back to the national office in Heathrow, Florida. A year later, all of those errors were still there. Two years later–same thing.

[FLRoads]

I have to wonder about AAA's cartography operation. I worked for a few summers as an auto travel counselor with AAA North Penn, making TripTiks and planning routes. One year, the national office sent us a questionnaire asking us to review the AAA state map and note any inaccuracies or changes in our service area. Of course the office manager brought it to me being the most roadgeek-y. The map had a bunch of errors, many involving interchanges on the US 15 freeway north of Williamsport. I noted them in detail, and we sent the completed questionnaire back to the national office in Heathrow, Florida. A year later, all of those errors were still there. Two years later–same thing.

I actually worked for a time (almost 10 years ago now) at the national office as a QA/QC editor for the atlases, TripTiks and Tourbook maps. My job was to look over map proofs for any irregularities (missing shields, wrong POI's, misspelled words, etc.), make correction suggestions, then send it back into the queue to get changed. There were five of us then, and we all worked long hours (including overtime) to get the product out in a timely manner and as correct as possible. I'm sure with my passion for maps I took a little extra care into what I checked, but I was able to teach my colleagues some of those same traits.

From what I know no one that I worked with is there anymore and there have been a lot of infrastructure changes within the corporation so I am not surprised by the current lack of quality in some of their products. I do remember before I left was when they were making their big change with TripTiks, making them in PDF format instead of Microstation, and leaning more and more into GIS for the atlases and fold maps. I am sure with all those things that there have been great changes in their QA/QC methodology.