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Hong Kong Navigation
- Thread starter shanghai_knight
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- Hong Kong
We in Japan also doesn't seem to have onboard nav on delivery tomorrow. IIRC the nav is Garmin? In Japan Garmin has almost zero share in car nav, so they would need to localize the software. Is it available in HK?
Oh, I am so fed up with only having Waze, and the way of signs in Hong Kong.
I focus and I concentrate, and I am looking ahead at multiple lanes - which one to choose? If I have to "follow the road" for another 6 km, then turn off at exit 21, which of all those lanes = "Follow the road"? Often that means taking a turn pike up somewhere to "stay on the road" while what seems like straight ahead is turning off the road.
And Waze?
Says "Keep right" ... OK so I keep right, only to find out that it was stay in the left lane and then keep right a few hundred meters further up. But I did as Waze told me, and now I am on my way to a completely different part of Hong Kong. Not only that, but you cannot just exit and turn back but often have to complete a long and tedious route of exits, turn pikes, roundabouts and what not.
Other times, there are double solid lines all of a sudden, and I discover I need to be in the other lane, across those lines. I have seen other vehicles cross them, but I know I shouldn't.
And last night, trying to get to Lee Gardens at first, the usual problem about Central being occupied and Waze didn't learn that even though it's been months now. So I know I have to get in a Western direction first, then up the hill, to somehow join Kennedy Road, and I also know that most directions will not lead there. Trying to use both the Tesla painted maps as well as Waze, with a taxi up my butt and a 16-seater "red top bus" racing a "green top bus", it's hard to get there. Then Waze says turn left, and it says no entry and a lot of sub-signs regarding buses and so on, I have but a split second to read and decides WTF, I am going this way. Seems it was the right way, but how do they expect me to read all that at 50 km/h? For a moment we considered to go around to Cyberport but with distance decreasing to around 30-something, we press on and change destination to Hopewell Centre. Now on Kennedy road, but going the wrong way, Waze wants me back towards Central, but I know I have to find a way to turn around and go back - suddenly there is only a few km until I am at Hopewell. Finally, we arrive at Hopewell with 28 km left. What a sightseeing, I guess this is the "Hong Kong Navigation 101" that all of you went through at some stage.
Those of you used to drive in HK will tell me that it's easy, and I will get used to it. Well, in many other parts of the world, the navigation system will tell you which lane to get in, often showing a graphic with arrows showing how to position yourself. This in a way that you can drive almost everywhere with no local knowledge. I am quite certain that this is the very reason that Navigon (which I am sure is the provider for Tesla Nav normally), is not present in Hong Kong. At least not YET. And THIS is also the very reason that we don't have Nav yet - Tesla is working with other providers, to see which one solves the HK Navigation challenge in the least bad way.
I should get that dash cam soon, but cannot afford it just yet (many other things on the to-buy list also pending). Then extract video of my mis-navigations, and hopefully learn from them.
I hope some of you seasoned HK drivers had a good laugh at my incompetences described above - am I the only one missing an exit here and there?
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This is where Navigon covers
(and Navigon was acquired by Garmin in 2011, originally a German company)
Note how it covers about everywhere except China and Hong Kong.
I just looked up TomTom, it seems they cover Hong Kong, anyone have experience with using it?
TomTom coverage:
TomTom Hong Kong is 398 HKD. Reviews are not very recent in iTunes store, but those that are mention two major problems:
1) Cannot use aGPS and constantly says poor GPS signal unless you have a car GPS antenna kit
2) You cannot search for any street unless you already know what district it is in. There is no free text search for street name, and no google or similar help
I focus and I concentrate, and I am looking ahead at multiple lanes - which one to choose? If I have to "follow the road" for another 6 km, then turn off at exit 21, which of all those lanes = "Follow the road"? Often that means taking a turn pike up somewhere to "stay on the road" while what seems like straight ahead is turning off the road.
And Waze?
Says "Keep right" ... OK so I keep right, only to find out that it was stay in the left lane and then keep right a few hundred meters further up. But I did as Waze told me, and now I am on my way to a completely different part of Hong Kong. Not only that, but you cannot just exit and turn back but often have to complete a long and tedious route of exits, turn pikes, roundabouts and what not.
Other times, there are double solid lines all of a sudden, and I discover I need to be in the other lane, across those lines. I have seen other vehicles cross them, but I know I shouldn't.
And last night, trying to get to Lee Gardens at first, the usual problem about Central being occupied and Waze didn't learn that even though it's been months now. So I know I have to get in a Western direction first, then up the hill, to somehow join Kennedy Road, and I also know that most directions will not lead there. Trying to use both the Tesla painted maps as well as Waze, with a taxi up my butt and a 16-seater "red top bus" racing a "green top bus", it's hard to get there. Then Waze says turn left, and it says no entry and a lot of sub-signs regarding buses and so on, I have but a split second to read and decides WTF, I am going this way. Seems it was the right way, but how do they expect me to read all that at 50 km/h? For a moment we considered to go around to Cyberport but with distance decreasing to around 30-something, we press on and change destination to Hopewell Centre. Now on Kennedy road, but going the wrong way, Waze wants me back towards Central, but I know I have to find a way to turn around and go back - suddenly there is only a few km until I am at Hopewell. Finally, we arrive at Hopewell with 28 km left. What a sightseeing, I guess this is the "Hong Kong Navigation 101" that all of you went through at some stage.
Those of you used to drive in HK will tell me that it's easy, and I will get used to it. Well, in many other parts of the world, the navigation system will tell you which lane to get in, often showing a graphic with arrows showing how to position yourself. This in a way that you can drive almost everywhere with no local knowledge. I am quite certain that this is the very reason that Navigon (which I am sure is the provider for Tesla Nav normally), is not present in Hong Kong. At least not YET. And THIS is also the very reason that we don't have Nav yet - Tesla is working with other providers, to see which one solves the HK Navigation challenge in the least bad way.
I should get that dash cam soon, but cannot afford it just yet (many other things on the to-buy list also pending). Then extract video of my mis-navigations, and hopefully learn from them.
I hope some of you seasoned HK drivers had a good laugh at my incompetences described above - am I the only one missing an exit here and there?
- - - Updated - - -
This is where Navigon covers
(and Navigon was acquired by Garmin in 2011, originally a German company)
Note how it covers about everywhere except China and Hong Kong.
I just looked up TomTom, it seems they cover Hong Kong, anyone have experience with using it?
TomTom coverage:
TomTom Hong Kong is 398 HKD. Reviews are not very recent in iTunes store, but those that are mention two major problems:
1) Cannot use aGPS and constantly says poor GPS signal unless you have a car GPS antenna kit
2) You cannot search for any street unless you already know what district it is in. There is no free text search for street name, and no google or similar help
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That's the same with Navigon, you have to enter the suburb first.
Google Maps does not have lane guidance in Australia. I wonder if there's a list of countries where it's available?
I agree DITB. If you wait until you can read all the signage to know which lane you are supposed to be in...You are already too late. The only way to drive is to know which lane you are supposed to be in AHEAD OF TIME. If you are going someplace new and need the signage to direct you....odds are you will find out after you chose the wrong lane. Quite frustrating and is one of the reasons I don't drive to new places, and end up sticking to the few routes I know.
I also agree other cities have better Navi or signage that can help you get in the correct lane, not like HK which often lets you know AFTER the fact.
I also agree other cities have better Navi or signage that can help you get in the correct lane, not like HK which often lets you know AFTER the fact.
DITB,
After 7+ years of driving I still get lost. I consider it part of the adventure.
The person who leads Google Maps here in HK indicated that Kowloon is one of the most difficult places to do driving direction maps because of the many one way streets, short distances, multiple lanes and construction. Nevertheless, I did a many tests with Google Maps, my blackberry and my GPS car navigation system (can't recall the name). Net is Google Map was typically the best answer although not always correct. So I got rid of the other devices. I'm not holding my breath on Tesla delivering in December 2014 (maybe 2015?) or having the best solution. The iphone holder attached to the windshield works predictably.
A tip on HK road signs - they are often after the turn and Google doesn't necessarily help. However, the road surface is typically painted with directions on which lane to be in for upcoming turns. These road surface directions on painted sufficiently ahead of the turn to guide you to the correct lane. So looking down for road directions and not up at signs is the driving behavior that has to be learned.
After 7+ years of driving I still get lost. I consider it part of the adventure.
The person who leads Google Maps here in HK indicated that Kowloon is one of the most difficult places to do driving direction maps because of the many one way streets, short distances, multiple lanes and construction. Nevertheless, I did a many tests with Google Maps, my blackberry and my GPS car navigation system (can't recall the name). Net is Google Map was typically the best answer although not always correct. So I got rid of the other devices. I'm not holding my breath on Tesla delivering in December 2014 (maybe 2015?) or having the best solution. The iphone holder attached to the windshield works predictably.
A tip on HK road signs - they are often after the turn and Google doesn't necessarily help. However, the road surface is typically painted with directions on which lane to be in for upcoming turns. These road surface directions on painted sufficiently ahead of the turn to guide you to the correct lane. So looking down for road directions and not up at signs is the driving behavior that has to be learned.
lx3h
Charged.hk's Director of Education
Navigation is based on on-board data (with real time traffic delay updating, and regular database updates). Hence, the speed of the internet connection isn't vital.
The reason we don't have Navigation in Hong Kong yet is that Tesla is using "Navigon" as supplier. Navigon does NOT supply maps for Hong Kong, so Tesla Motors are probably trying something else. My guess would be TomTom, but let's see. The layout of the charts, and the voice, will probably give away which one it is.
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