Question for GIS pro's
 

How do you find out who to report errors in geo data to? I found myself doubling back after RideWithGPS sent me up a road to a very closed bike path. I mapped the same path on Garmin connect and it did the same thing. The locked gate is at about the halfway mark on the Garmin link.

http://connect.garmin.com/course/4006776

This is what it really looks like in a satellite image. This imaage is a little out of date, since Alton Pkwy is completed, and the immage show it as still under construction. The image of the "bike path" is accurate.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=325647

Yeah, stuff like that happens when dealing with maps and mapping services. You could report the error to the "Help/ user support" area of "ridingwithGPS" but I have no idea if they can fix it since the data is likely linked to Google map data. I do know that they do a pretty good job at closing access to closed roads when using "ridewithGPS" because I ran into that problem once and had no idea "Why" they wouldn't let me map through a particular road. I found out "why" when I tried to ride down the road later that day. On the other hand I'm sure there are likely other roads and trails that are either shut down ( for whatever reason ) and not reported to the mapping services. At least if you have your Garmin or smart phone/GPS unit with you it usually isn't too much of an inconvenience to quickly access the map to find a work-around solution. Yeah it's a PITA but remember those days when all you had was a cue sheet or just the knowledge you had in your head. ;) Thankfully those days are over, at least for those who can afford the aforementioned items.

Back in '03 I took some classes in ArcGIS, and seem to remember that the street data comes from a census bureau database called something like "National Street Name Index". I'm am fairly certain Google maps accesses the same database, as well as data they maintain. If I remember correctly, the census bureau gets the data from the agencies (state, county, city and federal) that own the various rights of way.

I think I may have come close to answering my own question. I need to find out which jurisdiction maintains that particular section. Either The city of Irvine, Lake Forrest, or the County of Orange. Then I need to find the engineering department responsible. Not always an easy task.

I'm a "GIS pro" and I agree with 01 Cat Man Do, about all you can do most of the time is to try to report the error to the agency or company that is supplying the data. Having worked with a lot of gov't provided data I see a lot of errors, many of which never get fixed no matter how many times it's pointed out.

I learned in Cartography class: "All maps have errors."

Yeah, This one is not a big deal. I know of one that was corrected (not by me) on an extremely popular route.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=325858

The southbound one-way was not recognized as going through, and it would send you way inland. They fixed it.